


Stay Stay Stay

by khaleesiq



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-15
Updated: 2013-10-15
Packaged: 2017-12-29 12:41:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1005576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khaleesiq/pseuds/khaleesiq
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn's a model who may or may not have a thing for his neighbor, Liam. But Liam has a secret that Zayn is dying to know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay Stay Stay

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance if you really hate it, I kind of rushed through the middle and the end, but I really hope you don't :)
> 
> Title taken from the song Stay Stay Stay by Taylor Swift.

Zayn is tired. He's been standing around all day while random photographers yell at him to _stand like this_ or _make a face like that_ and he's just so done with it all. Of course, he knew that going into this career he was going to have to deal with this kind of behavior, but today is just ridiculous. Thirteen hours straight of nothing but photoshoot after photoshoot all because the designer had been too lazy to get his pictures for his next line done early, so he was making them do it all now.

The only good thing about this is that his best friend Louis is right there, suffering along with him. Maybe more so, considering Louis tends to fool around on set and so he gets yelled at and scolded a lot. Whereas Zayn is more serious, and gets it done faster. He knows that the quicker the pictures are taken, the sooner you get to go home. But Louis doesn't care about that. He prefers to have fun doing what you love because otherwise you stop loving it.

"Oh, Zayn I love that!" the photographer praises him. "Keep doing what you're doing! You're so beautiful! Yes, _exactly_ like that!"

Zayn tries not to roll his eyes. Most photographers aren't this ridiculous most of the time, but he figures that everyone, not just him, is tired and wants to be done with the day and the photographers are trying to keep them upbeat.

"Make love to the camera, Zayn!" Louis shouts from across the room. Even from this distance, he can tell that the people working with Louis are totally annoyed with him for not taking this seriously enough.

"I would, but I don't think that's the image Richards is going for," Zayn jokes. Will Richards, the designer of the line they're currently modeling (and will be doing a runway show at the end of the month for), is an up-and-coming fashion designer that's been remarked by GQ as "the world's next Louis Vuitton". Zayn thinks that Richards was probably a nice guy before he started out, but now he's let the fame go to his head and he's a bit of a prick, if Zayn is being honest.

"Zayn, love, just a couple more poses and then we'll be done I promise," the photographer says to him, peeking out from behind her camera.

Zayn smiles gratefully at her before switching poses. He's glad that they can tell how tired they all are and are trying to be as sympathetic as possible. Not everyone realizes how hard modeling is until they've actually tried it. It's a lot of standing around on your feet while people dress you, do your hair (and having no regards as to being gentle with it), and caking on make-up. After that, it's even more standing around trying to look pretty and not at all uncomfortable in the situations you're thrown in while photographers yell at you telling you that it's not that hard, or that they could do this in their sleep.

So yeah, Zayn's pretty grateful to people who respect his career.

A few shots later and the photographer is announcing that he's done for the day. He breathes a sigh of relief and runs straight for the dressing rooms (Louis flips him off when he passes him) and changes into sweatpants and a t-shirt. He finds a chair in the room and plays on his phone while waiting for Louis to finish.

Louis finishes about half an hour later, falling to the ground at Zayn's feet as soon as he enters the room.

"I never want to model ever again," he declares.

"You have another photoshoot on Friday," Zayn tells him.

"Fuck," Louis groans. "Just put me out of my misery now. Please."

Zayn kicks him in the side, trying to force him to get up and get dressed so he can go home as soon as possible. "C'mon Lou, you know you love it."

Louis sits up. "Damn, I do. And I meet loads of lovely people. Including possibly the best looking photographer I have ever seen."

"Oh really?" Zayn says, raising his eyebrows. Louis likes to get around, but he's never once set his sights on a photographer. "Which one were they?"

"He was the tall, curly-haired one in a flannel," Louis sighs dreamily.

Zayn tries to think of who he's talking about. He doesn't quite remember anyone of that description, but then again, he's been through so many photoshoots today that he doubts he'll even remember wearing those clothes when the pictures come out.

"So did you get his number?" Zayn asks as Louis finally gets up and starts getting changed.

"Of course not!" Louis says, appalled. "How unprofessional would that have been of me."

"You're anything _but_ professional though," Zayn points out.

"Yes," Louis agrees, "but imagine how pissed Richards would've been if he found out a got one of his photographers' numbers."

Zayn doesn't even want to _think_ about how angry Richards would be if one of them ever did something like that.

"It's been a long day Zayn," Louis sighs once he's dressed (same attire as Zayn). "Let's go home and order a pizza."

***

 

"Niall gets off in twenty minutes so he'll bring us the pizza when he's done," Louis tells Zayn as he hangs up the phone.

Niall is their upstairs neighbor in their small flat building. He works at the pizzeria downtown and often brings them the leftover pizza that wasn't picked up by anyone and then he invites his flatmate Liam to eat it with them in Zayn and Louis' flat.

Their flat building is set up like this: there are two flats on the bottom floor right across from each other, with a staircase in the middle. The second floor is composed of two flats as well, with a balcony around the landing of the staircase. With this set-up, it's kind of impossible to ignore your neighbors because at some point you're going to end up running into one of them.

Upstairs lives Niall and Liam, who are two uni students that are around the same age as Zayn and Louis (at least, Zayn assumes their both in uni, but they've never explicitly said that). They're also the neighbors that Zayn and Louis know the best and talk to the most. The other upstairs tenant is a thirty year old business woman that they hardly ever see because she works 24/7. Their last neighbor is an old couple that hardly ever leave their flat.

"Do you think he'll invite Liam over this time?" Zayn asks hopefully.

Louis rolls his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure Niall will invite your boyfriend. I mean, honestly, do you _ever_ see them apart? If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were dating."

Zayn's face goes red. He remembers the first day they'd met Liam and Niall, when they were welcoming Zayn and Louis to the building. He remembers how close Liam and Niall were standing, how much they touched each other, and how they _always_ laughed at each other's jokes, no matter how stupid it was.

Finally Zayn had just blurted, "Are you guys dating?"

Liam and Niall had exchanged a quick glance before bursting out laughing. At Zayn and Louis' confused looks Liam had explained that they're not dating and that Niall is, in fact, straight. And of course, after that Louis had to ask Liam about _his_ sexuality, to which he replied that he's bisexual. And that's probably when everything went downhill for Zayn.

See, the thing about Liam is that he's ridiculously attractive. Like, attractive in the way that he doesn't realize he's attractive so he does things like leave the building to go jogging and then come back sweating and without his shirt on without realizing what it does to Zayn. But besides the fact that Liam is completely _gorgeous_ , Liam is honestly the sweetest and most genuine guy Zayn has ever met. He honestly cares about people and wants to be everyone's friend, and he's a total kid at heart. He loves the movie _Toy Story_ and he's really into Batman and he reads comic books all the time, and he's basically the most perfect human being alive. At least, he is according to Zayn.

So of course Zayn asked him out. He even waited a good amount of time after meeting to do it, but Liam still turned him down. It was polite of course, because when _isn't_ Liam polite? And when Zayn asked for an explanation Liam had replied that, "It just isn't a good time."

A year later and Zayn still has a massive crush on Liam. In fact, he's fairly certain that it's gotten worse. It's just that Zayn can't help how incredibly fit Liam looks when he runs into him coming back from a jog shirtless. Or how Liam always laughs at his own dumb jokes and he has the most beautiful laugh ever when it's really genuine, because his eyes squeeze shut and they crinkle at the corners. Or how excited Liam gets when talking about something he really loves and he starts using a lot of hand gestures and he leans in really close to you like he doesn't want you to miss anything important. Zayn can't help that Liam is literally the most beautiful person alive, and that he can't have him.

A knock at the door twenty minutes later pulls Zayn out of his thoughts about Liam. Louis answers it to find Niall standing there holding two large pizzas. Even from his spot on the couch far from the door Zayn can smell the delicious scent of cheese and grease and his mouth is watering already.

"Hey Li!" Niall shouts upstairs. That's another cool thing about their building; it's so small that it's easy to call someone for help with something or to just hang out. But it kind of sucks when you want some peace and quiet and you can hear people yelling all around you. Zayn figures that's how their other neighbors feel most of the time about the four of them.

"Yeah?" Zayn hears Liam call back.

"Come down here and have some pizza with us!" Niall tells him.

Liam lets him know that he'll be down soon, he just needs to shower and change from his jog. Zayn can't help but be mad that he missed out on seeing Liam coming back from his jog today.

Louis leads Niall into the living room where Zayn is and Niall sets the pizzas down on the coffee table, side by side. He opens them up to reveal one with pepperoni and sausage, and the other with a variety of toppings that has Zayn scrunching his nose up in distaste.

"I know, I know," Niall says in response to Zayn's expression. "But it was a leftover box that no one ever picked up and I decided to take that instead of having to pay for two boxes. Just give it to Liam, or pick off the toppings if you have to."

Louis and Niall dig in right away, and Zayn hangs back a bit so as not to get killed in the feeding frenzy before grabbing a single slice of pepperoni and sausage for himself. He feels bad because there's only one piece of the pepperoni and sausage pizza left but he also knows that Liam won't mind what kind of pizza he gets.

Niall asks them about their day and how it went, spurring Louis into a rant about how exhausting his day was and that he thinks he's being overworked. Zayn rolls his eyes; sure, it can be tiring, but in no way are they being "overworked".

Liam comes in as Zayn is starting on the last piece of pepperoni and sausage pizza. Louis' too busy talking to Niall and Niall's too fascinated with the life of a model to notice Liam's arrival, but Liam nods at them in greeting anyway. He grabs a piece from the "unwanted" pizza and sits down right next to Zayn on the couch.

"How was your day?" Liam asks Zayn.

"It was fine, I'm just kind of tired." Zayn doesn't really feel like talking about his job with Liam right now, so he asks him, "How was yours?"

Liam shrugs. "Same as everyday."

Zayn nods like he understands, but he really doesn't. Unlike Niall, Liam _never_ talks about his personal life. All he knows about Liam is that he goes on a jog everyday at six and that he _most likely_ attends uni in town. Niall does, so he assumes that Liam does as well, but Liam has never explicitly said that he goes to uni. Where Niall is so open with everything about his life, Liam is the exact opposite.

"Oh yeah? What'd you do?" Zayn asks Liam in hopes of getting him to open up more.

But Liam just shrugs again before Niall addresses both of them, saying, "We should all go out sometime."

"I'd love to, but I'm kind of tired," Zayn responds regretfully. He would like to go out with Liam and Niall at some point, he really would, but he's just not up to it tonight.

"I know," Niall says, "I just meant, like, sometime when we're all free."

"I'm cool with that," Louis says, looking at Zayn.

Zayn shrugs. "Sure, sounds good."

"Niall," Liam says seriously, "I can't go."

Zayn and Louis look at Liam with curious expressions, but Liam is only paying attention to Niall.

"Sure you can, Li," Niall tells him. "You're not... doing anything on Wednesday, right?"

"Right," Liam replies. "But Niall, what about... that other thing? I can't just neglect it."

"You'll figure it out," Niall says, like it's no big deal. Then he turns to Zayn and Louis and says, "He'll figure it out. You good for Wednesday?"

"I don't have a problem with that," Louis says. "Zayn?"

Zayn looks at Liam, who's staring down at his lap and refuses to meet anyone's eye. Zayn wonders what the big deal was and why Liam was so against going. He just wishes that Liam would stop being so secretive about his life, but he does respect that if Liam doesn't want to share, then he has the right to keep it to himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine with Wednesday," Zayn finally answers, still staring at Liam.

Niall nods and then suddenly Liam is jumping up and saying, "I have to go now, and, er, study. I'll see you later."

"But you just got here," Louis says, stopping him halfway to the door.

"I know," Liam says apologetically. "It was nice to stop by and say hi, but I really do have to go."

"What are you studying?" Zayn asks Liam before he can leave again. He hopes that this is finally his chance to figure out what Liam's story is.

"Er, English," Liam says quickly.

Zayn's face lights up. "If you're having trouble with it I can help. Believe it or not I'm quite brilliant at English."

"It's true," Louis interjects. "When we were secondary school he wanted to go to uni to be an English teacher."

"Oh," Liam says, genuinely surprised that Zayn is actually good at something other than looking pretty. "I really appreciate the offer, but I'm fine, thanks. I just need to review some things for a test tomorrow. I'll, um, I'll see you all later."

And with that Liam hurries out of the flat before anyone can say anything to stop him.

Niall and Louis start talking again once Liam is gone, but Zayn doesn't see the point in staying out here any longer since he's not really interested in their conversation.

"I'm going for a smoke," Zayn tells Louis and Niall quickly before getting up, grabbing his pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, and leaving the flat.

Zayn stands a few feet away from the building to smoke. He knows that even though Louis and Niall don't mind, the older couple do and Liam has mentioned on more than one occasion that smoking isn't exactly his favorite thing in the world.

Liam had said that he had an English test to study for. That must mean that he goes to uni like Niall, right? So why hadn't he said anything about what he was studying when Niall had? Why doesn't Zayn ever see Liam leaving his flat for his classes during the day? And why did Liam seem so eager to leave just to study for a test that he had the next day?

Zayn thinks that maybe he should just stop caring so much. But the thing is, his crush on Liam isn't getting any better and his curiosity isn't dwindling at all. In fact, the more secretive Liam acts about his life, the more Zayn wants to know about what he might be hiding. And his ideas about what Liam's secret might be are getting scarier and creepier everyday.

He finishes his cigarette and heads back inside, a noise from upstairs stopping him before he gets to his door. He's not quite sure what it was, so he decides to go up there and see if Liam is okay. Halfway up the stairs, he's stopped again, but this time it's by his own door slamming shut. He whirls around and sees Niall leaving his flat and stomping his way towards the stairs.

"Niall?" Zayn says in confusion. Niall's head snaps up, noticing for the first time that Zayn is standing on the stairs. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Niall says, a little more than just a hint of annoyance in his voice. "What are you doing going up stairs?"

"I heard a weird noise from upstairs," Zayn tells him. "I thought I'd go and see if Liam's okay."

"Oh!" Niall shouts suddenly, rushing past Zayn. "He's fine, everything's fine, don't worry about it. I'll see you later!"

Zayn doesn't have any time to answer back before Niall shuts the door to his flat behind himself.

Zayn is beyond confused. It's one thing for Liam to act all weird and secretive, Zayn's used to it by now, but for Niall to be acting like this? He wonders if Louis knows any more about their odd behavior than Zayn does.

He walks back down the stairs and into his flat where he finds Louis sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. _Whatever it was that Niall was annoyed with must have had something to do with Louis as well_ , Zayn thinks.

"Lou?" Zayn asks hesitantly, wondering if he's as annoyed as Niall and Zayn should keep his distance. "You okay?"

Louis looks up and smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired, that's all. I'm gonna go take a shower and then head to up. Good night, Zayn."

"It's only seven though," Zayn says, but Louis obviously doesn't care about how early it is, if the fact that he ignores Zayn and slams the bathroom door hard enough to shake the walls is anything to go by.

Zayn slumps onto the couch and leans his head back, wondering why no one ever tells him anything.

***

Zayn has the next couple of days off since yesterday was the last shoot for the line and he doesn't have any other photoshoots scheduled for another week. But those shoots aren't that big of a deal, just a couple of smaller companies that he doesn't have contracts with, but ask him to model a few things anyway.

For his first day off, Zayn decides to do some grocery shopping since he didn't have time to do it the day before and their stock of food is running pretty low.

The second day Zayn does nothing. He sits around his flat watching TV or reading his book or running to the kitchen to grab a snack.

On the third day, Zayn goes to the library to get some new books because he finished the one he was reading the day before. He spends most of that day reading as well, except for when he heads outside for a smoke at six in hopes of running into Liam going out for his usual jog. He stays out there for almost an hour before deciding that either Liam isn't coming out or he went out earlier. That's strange though; for the entire year that Zayn's lived here Liam has always gone out at six. He wonders what's going on and why everyone is acting so weird lately.

His fourth day off is the Wednesday that they'd agreed to go out with Niall. Niall shows up at their door at ten to drive them to the club. The first thing Zayn notices is that Liam isn't with him.

"Where's Liam?" Zayn asks as he shrugs on his jacket.

"He's coming later," Niall answers. "He had to take care of some things first."

"I'm sure he did," Louis grumbles as he shoves past Niall on the out the door. So Louis and Niall are still mad at each other. Zayn wonders what happened between them to make them start acting so cold towards each other.

Most people think that models lead fabulous lives where they go out and party every single night and they date the wealthiest and most famous people in the world. Zayn's not quite sure if that's how other models spend their time, but that's not what he and Louis do. They still like to act as if they're normal people with a normal job, so they don't actually go out that often or spend their money like there's no tomorrow.

So in the entirety of Zayn's life he's only been to a club two or three times. He's not really used to the whole atmosphere and the loud music playing over the speakers still give him a headache, but he tries to have a good time anyway. Louis, though, fits right in, and Niall must go out a lot because he seems to know exactly what he's doing and where he's going as soon as they step into the club.

They somehow manage to find a booth and Zayn and Louis wait there while Niall goes to get them some drinks from the bar.

"When do you think Liam's getting here?" Zayn asks Louis loud enough to be heard over the music.

Louis shrugs. "I wouldn't worry too much about him, mate. To be honest, I think that you should just give up on him. He's obviously not interested and he probably never will be, so I think it'd be best if you just looked for someone else."

Zayn can't believe what he's hearing. Yes, he's had those same thoughts about his crush on Liam, but Louis' his best friend and he's supposed to have his back on everything. Louis should be backing Zayn up and encouraging Zayn to go after what he wants since he knows how serious Zayn is about Liam. In fact, Louis' always been supportive of Zayn's crush even when Zayn is sure it's hopeless. Louis has always been there to assure him that "there's no way Liam doesn't like you. He thinks you're amazing and you two get on great. I don't know what his problem is."

Zayn wonders if Louis' comment has something to do with his and Niall's fight.

Niall comes back with the drinks and slides into the booth next to Zayn. "My friends Harry and Josh will be here soon," Niall tells them. "I can't wait for you two to meet them, you'll love them."

"What about Liam?" Zayn asks and Louis groans.

Niall frowns and looks down at his phone. "I'm not sure when he'll be here. He hasn't texted me yet, but he promised he'd try and make it tonight."

"Maybe he was _kidding_ ," Louis says. "Or maybe he had a _small_ problem to take care of."

" _Shut up, Louis_ ," Niall says angrily, gritting his teeth. Niall gives Zayn a worried glance, but Zayn honestly has no idea what they're on about.

"What happened?" Zayn blurts. He couldn't help himself any longer; he _has_ to know what's going on between Louis and Niall.

"What are you talking about?" Niall asks innocently.

"You _know_ what he's talking about," Louis says. "Would you like to tell him or shall I?"

Instead of answering, Niall jumps up suddenly and says, "I think Harry and Josh are here. I'm going to go meet them outside; I'll be right back."

Once Niall's gone Zayn asks Louis, "So are you going to tell me what happened between you two or not?"

Louis sighs. "I can't. I really want to and I think you deserve to know, but it's not mine to share. So unless Niall says I can tell you or he tells you himself then I can't say anything."

If Zayn was confused before, it's nothing compared to how he feels now. "Why doesn't Niall want me to know?"

Louis shrugs. "Beats me. He just told me not to tell you."

Zayn wants to ask more about this secret fight Louis and Niall are having, but obviously Louis' not going to say anything more than "I can't tell you". He has no idea how big of a secret it would be to keep Louis from telling Zayn. Louis is his best friend, and he's never kept anything from him before. So it must be something bad if even Louis is refusing to tell Zayn what's going on.

Niall comes back with two people trailing behind him. "This is Josh and Harry," he says, gesturing to the two guys behind him. Louis looks up when he introduces them and spits his drink.

"You okay Lou?" Zayn asks, but Louis' not paying attention to him. Instead, he's staring at the two newcomers with wide eyes.

"It's nice to meet you," the one Niall introduced as Josh says as he slides in next to Zayn. "Nialler talks about you _all the time_."

"Nice to meet you too," Zayn says. He wishes he could say the same about Josh and Harry, but he thinks he's only heard Niall mention them once or twice. "I'm Zayn, and that's Louis."

"Have I seen you before?" Harry asks slowly as he sits next to Louis. "You two look really familiar."

"They're models," Niall says sitting next to Josh. "You've probably seen them in a magazine or on a billboard or something."

Zayn snorts because they've never been on a billboard before. The day they're on a billboard will be the day Louis goes into cardiac arrest because it's literally his dream to have his face on a billboard.

"No, I mean, I'm pretty sure I've seen you two, like, in person or something," Harry says, studying Louis and Zayn's faces.

"Maybe you've seen me in your dreams," Louis says, and now it's Zayn's turn to spit his drink. Is Louis serious? He just met the damn guy thirty seconds ago and now he's flirting with him. Louis is unbelievable.

"No, that's not it..." Harry says, still thinking. Suddenly he sits up and yells, "I know where I've seen you! You were at a photoshoot!"

"What the fuck were you doing at one of their photoshoots, Haz?" Niall asks.

"I was one of the photographers at their shoot a few days ago," Harry explains and then Zayn remembers. Or rather, he remembers Louis talking about the photographer he thought was "the best looking photographer in the world". Zayn thinks that, yeah, Harry's attractive but he's not the hottest person ever. Or maybe Zayn is just so gone for Liam that he doesn't think anyone can compare to him.

"Oh yeah, _now_ I remember you," Louis says. Zayn rolls his eyes, hoping that Harry isn't stupid enough to fall for Louis' act.

"Liam just texted me," Niall interrupts before Louis can get any further with Harry. "He said that something came up and he can't make it."

Zayn tries not to let his face fall, but he can't help it. He's disappointed because he hasn't seen Liam in almost a week and he was hoping that tonight would be his chance to get closer with Liam and maybe get him to agree to a date. But Liam isn't coming, and maybe this is a sign that it's never going to work out between the two of them and that Louis' right, he should just give up and find someone else.

Zayn finishes off his drink and heads to the dance floor, deciding to do just that.

***

Zayn is spectacularly drunk. He's currently dancing with some girl that he doesn't remember the name of and he has no idea where any of his friends are. He's not sure what time it is, but he must've been here at least two hours now.

The girl asks him if he wants to go home with her and he says no. She doesn't get angry, just shrugs as if to say, "your loss", and walks away to find someone who will go home with her. He's not sure why he rejected her, after all he's supposed to be forgetting about Liam tonight, isn't he?

He goes back to the bar to get another drink and runs into Niall on the way.

"Hey Niall," Zayn slurs. He tries to move past him but trips on his own feet. He laughs.

"Hey Zayn," Niall says, steadying him. "How drunk are you?"

" _Very_ ," Zayn says, laughing again. "A girl asked me to go home with her but I said no because I'm so in love with Liam."

Niall's eyes widen and he says, "Maybe we should get you home, mate."

"M'fine," Zayn says. He tries to walk away again, but his vision is too blurry and he can't see where he's going and he ends up slamming straight into someone and knocking their drink out of their hands. Zayn falls onto the ground and bursts out laughing.

"I'm going to take you home," Niall says, bending over to help Zayn up.

"Carry me," Zayn says as he holds out his arms.

Niall rolls his eyes and pulls him up. "I'm not carrying you. C'mon, I'll drive you home."

He lets Zayn lean on him as they weave their way through the club and out the doors. On the way to Niall's car they stop suddenly and Niall takes his phone out of his pocket. He frowns down at it before answering with, "Hello?"

There's a pause and then Niall sighs and says, "I've got Zayn with me right now, but I'll call him a cab and I'll be there as soon as I can."

Niall then quickly calls a cab as he leads Zayn back to the entrance of the club. He leans Zayn against the wall and explains, "Josh needs my help with Louis and Harry. I'll stay with you until the cab comes. You'll be fine getting into your flat on your own, right?"

Zayn nods. "Why does Josh need your help? Are Louis and Harry fucking in the bathroom?"

Niall laughs. "Something like that."

Zayn grins. "Good, at least one of us is getting some."

Niall frowns. "Listen, Zayn, the thing about Liam is that--"

"He's not interested in me, I know," Zayn cuts him off.

Niall shakes his head. "No, Zayn, that's not it _at all_. Trust me, he's more than interested in you, and he _wants_ to go out with you, it's just that--"

They're cut off by the sound of a car pulling up and honking its horn at them. Niall leads Zayn over to the cab and dumps inside, rattling off the address for the driver and handing Zayn money for the ride.

"You're sure that you'll be okay getting in on your own?" Niall asks before shutting the door.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Zayn replies. "You're a good friend, Niall."

"Oh trust me, I'm aware," Niall says, rolling his eyes. "But it's nice to be reminded every once in a while. I'll see you tomorrow, Zayn."

"Bye Niall!" Zayn yells even though Niall's already shut the door. Zayn spends most of the cab ride rambling to the driver what a good friend Niall is and the other part of it complaining about how shitty his love life is.

Zayn doesn't hear how much the ride cost, just hands over all the money Niall gave him before leaving the car. He stumbles inside the building and up to his door. He searches his pockets for his key and then decides that he lost it somewhere.

"Liam!" He shouts upstairs because he knows that he and Louis gave Liam and Niall a spare key in case they ever lost or forgot theirs. " _Leeyum_!"

Liam finally emerges from his flat rubbing his eyes. He's wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants and his short hair is a mess. "Zayn? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I'm locked out," Zayn whines, slumping against his door. All of a sudden he feels exhausted and wants nothing more than to fall in his bed and sleep for the next ten years.

Liam sighs. "One second, I'll get your key." He disappears inside and comes back out a few seconds later with the key in hand. He takes his time going down the stairs and making his way to Zayn's door. As he unlocks it he asks Zayn, "Did you have a good time?"

Zayn nods. "I was dancing with a girl. Almost went home with her, but she's not nearly as pretty as you."

Liam tenses and he asks, "Are you drunk?"

Zayn nods again.

Liam sighs and opens the door. "There you go. Need anything else?"

Zayn wraps his arms around Liam's neck and slurs, "Carry me to my bed."

"I'll help you to your bed but I'm not going to carry you," Liam tells him.

"Okay," Zayn agrees, and takes one arm away from Liam's neck, but keeps the other one there. It's mostly Liam dragging Zayn as they walk to his room, but Liam isn't complaining so Zayn continues not doing work.

"Why don't you like me, Liam?" Zayn asks when they get to his room.

"What do you mean?" Liam asks, placing him gently on his bed and taking off his shoes.

Zayn settles under the covers and yawns. "I mean, why won't you go out with me?"

"It's complicated, Zayn," Liam says.

"What's complicated about liking someone?" Zayn asks. "If you like someone and they like you back you should go out with them. There's nothing complicated about that."

"I know, but it's about a little more than that," Liam says. "Maybe I'll tell you sometime when you're sober."

"I'll hold you to that," Zayn says, letting his eyelids slip shut.

"Good night, Zayn," Liam says, turning the light off and closing the door softly behind himself. Zayn drifts off to sleep shortly after Liam leaves.

***

Zayn is woken up the next morning by a loud crash coming from somewhere inside his flat. Zayn groans and gets up, wondering what on earth Louis broke this time. He takes a quick detour to the bathroom for an ibuprofen for his pounding headache before heading to the kitchen, where he's sure the noise came from. Instead of finding Louis there, though, he finds a familiar boy with a curly head of hair.

"Harry?" Zayn asks, and Harry looks up from where he's crouched on the ground trying to clean up whatever he dropped. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Harry bites his lip and frowns down at the shattered pieces of glass. "Er, I came in here to get a glass of water and I accidentally dropped it."

"No, I meant what are you doing at my flat?" Zayn clarifies.

"Oh. I kind of went home with Louis last night."

"What do you mean by 'kind of'?"

"I mean," Harry starts as he continues to clean up his mess, "I went back to his flat with him but we didn't have sex."

"Oh." Zayn wonders if Louis remembers as much about last night as he does. The last thing he remembers is dancing with some girl at the club. He knows he didn't sleep with her since there wasn't anyone in bed with him, but other than that he doesn't know a thing. He can't even recall how he got home last night.

"I'll go get you a broom and dustpan," Zayn tells Harry. He hears a quiet "thanks" as he leaves the flat to go to the building's shared supply closet. (The building is so small that the tenants share all their supplies and one big closet to store them in rather than having all of their own.)

On the way back from the closet Zayn isn't looking where he's going and he runs straight into someone going upstairs. Liam drops the plastic bags he was carrying and all its contents spill onto the ground.

"Oh, fuck, I'm so sorry," Zayn says as he drops to the floor to help Liam clean up.

"It's fine, I'm fine, I can clean this up myself," Liam says hurriedly, gently trying to push Zayn away.

"No, you don't have to," Liam assures him, grabbing for every item before Zayn can. "You're obviously in a hurry--"

"What's this?" Zayn cuts him off suddenly, holding up a jar of baby food.

Liam stares at him for a couple of seconds, his mouth hanging open. Finally, his mouth snaps shut and he snatches the jar away from Zayn. "I'm, er, babysitting."

Zayn raises an eyebrow. "For who?"

"My sister," Liam says quickly.

"Oh," Zayn says. "How long are you babysitting for? Maybe I can lend a hand. You know, I have two little sisters--"

"It's okay," Liam says. "I only have her for today, so I don't need your help. I appreciate the offer though." He's done refilling his bags so he stands up and Zayn follows his lead. "I should ask, how are you?"

"Fine, a little hungover, but fine," Zayn answers, confused. "Why do you ask?"

Liam shrugs. "You seemed pretty out of it last night. I was just making sure you're okay."

Zayn freezes. "You saw me last night?"

"Yeah, you locked yourself out," Liam tells him. "I had to come and help you."

"Oh," Zayn says, drawing out the "o". He tries to recall seeing Liam at all last night, but he can't remember a thing. He sincerely hopes that he didn't say anything too embarrassing. Then, for lack of anything better to say, he goes for, "I like your shirt."

Liam looks down at his Captain America shirt, and his lips tilt up into a smile. "Thanks. I prefer DC, but I do like Iron Man and Captain America as well."

He already knows this about Liam, they've talked about this subject countless times. He loves conversations with Liam that are like this, though; ones where they find common ground and they could talk for hours if they wanted to.

However, he doesn't really have time to talk to Liam at the moment unfortunately. He has to get back to the flat and help Harry clean up before he ends up breaking anything else. And Liam should probably get back to his sister's baby soon.

"I should go," Zayn says reluctantly before he gets too caught up in a conversation about DC Comics versus Marvel Comics. "I have to help Harry clean up."

Liam raises his eyebrows. "Harry who?"

"I don't know his last name," Zayn admits. "He was hanging out with us last night though. He's one of Niall's friends."

"Harry Styles?" Liam says, confused. "What's he doing at your flat?"

"He kind of went home with Louis last night," Zayn says, repeating what Harry had told him earlier when he asked the same exact question.

"What do you mean by 'kind of'?" Liam asks. Zayn almost laughs because now they're having the same exact conversation as him and Harry.

"He went back to our flat with Louis, but they didn't have sex," Zayn explains.

"Oh," Liam says, letting out an uncomfortable laugh. "Well I should go too. I'll see you later, Zayn."

"You too, Liam," Zayn says as he watches Liam hurry up the stairs. He sighs because it seems like every conversation he has with Liam ends more awkwardly than the last.

He's about to go back inside his flat when Liam's voice calling his name from above stops him.

"Yeah?" Zayn yells back.

"Okay," Liam says quietly.

Now it's Zayn's turn to be confused. "'Okay'?" What the hell is Liam even talking about?

"Okay," Liam repeats, louder, more confidently, "I'll go on a date with you."

Zayn's speechless. The last (and only) time he asked Liam out was almost a year ago. How does Liam even remember that? "You-- what?" is the only thing Zayn can manage to say right now.

Liam smiles. "Last night you said that if you like someone and they like you back then you should go out with them. So I'll go out with you."

Zayn can't believe he said that last night. He must've been _really_ out of it if he can't remember saying that. "You will?"

Liam laughs softly. "Yes, I'll go out with you. I have no idea why you're finding that so hard to believe."

He's finding it hard to believe because he's been waiting a year for Liam to go on a date with him and there's no way that it's finally happening. "Because you said that your life is too complicated," Zayn says instead.

"That's the thing," Liam says slowly. "I can only promise one date. I don't have time for anything serious and--"

"Liam," Zayn says, cutting him off, "I understand."

"You do?" Liam says incredulously.

Zayn really doesn't, but that doesn't really matter to him right now. Not when Liam is looking down at him, lip caught between his teeth, and scuffing his shoe against the floor while he waits for Zayn to answer. He looks so nervous, like he's afraid that Zayn won't want to go out with him. It's so ridiculous, Zayn thinks, since there's no possible way that Zayn _wouldn't_ want to be with Liam.

"Yeah," Zayn says. "So when are you free?"

"Um," Liam thinks, biting down even harder on his lower lip to contain the wide grin that's threatening to take over his face. "Saturday?"

"Great, I'll pick you up at eight," Zayn tells him, and now both of them are grinning like idiots at each other.

The business woman that lives next to Liam and Niall, Catherine, emerges from her flat then. "Fucking finally," she mutters at the both of them as she rushes down the stairs.

Liam laughs and Zayn's face burns red. "I'll see you then," Liam says quickly before disappearing into his flat.

Zayn stands there for a couple more minutes before remembering that he has to go help Harry clean up. He heads back inside only to discover that the mess has already been cleaned up. But that's not what has Zayn dropping the broom to the ground with a loud bang. It's the fact that Louis is sitting on the top of the kitchen counter making out with Harry.

"You have got to be _fucking_ kidding me!" Zayn shouts as the two of them look up in surprise at him.

" _Get out, Zayn_ ," Louis hisses angrily at him. "Can't you see we're a little busy?"

"Maybe I should go..." Harry says slowly, backing away from the counter.

"No, Harry," Louis says quickly, jumping off the counter, "Zayn was just leaving. Right Zayn? Don't you have an incredibly fit runner to creep on?"

"Actually I just talked to him," Zayn says. "So, no, I don't have anywhere to go at the moment."

Louis glares at him as Harry heads for the door, saying, "It was nice meeting the two of you. I'll see you later."

Once Harry's gone Louis rounds on Zayn and spits, "I hate you."

"Likewise."

"Do you not know how to take a hint?" Louis continues. " _God_ , you are such a fucking cockblock. I can't believe--"

"Liam asked me out."

"--you would just--" Louis cuts himself off when he realizes what Zayn just said. "He-- _what_?"

"Liam asked me out," Zayn says, slower this time. He completely forgets about what he walked in on seconds before and starts grinning again. "I'm going on a date. With Liam. On Saturday."

"Congratulations mate," Louis says with a smile. Then the smile fades and he's glaring at Zayn again. "But that doesn't excuse your behavior. Don't you know the code?"

"What code?" Zayn asks, sighing with aggravation.

"The Friendship Code," Louis explains. "Friends do not cockblock friends."

"That's not a real thing," Zayn says.

"Yes it is," Louis insists. "And it states that if the code is broken then the cockblocked friend has permission to get the cockblocker back."

"Okay, now can you please stop saying cockblock?"

Louis smirks. "I'm going to get you back so badly, Zayn, just you wait and see."

***

Zayn and Louis both have photoshoots on Friday. However, Louis' shoot is scheduled at an ungodly hour in the morning while Zayn's is scheduled in the late afternoon. Zayn had spent the entire day before teasing Louis about how early he has to get up for his shoot, so of course Louis retaliates by waking Zayn up at the same time by banging a spatula against a pan right next to his ear.

Zayn pulls a pillow over his head, but that just makes it worse. Louis jumps on top of him and continues to bang the two kitchen utensils together even louder (if that's possible).

"Wake up, Zaynie!" Louis yells shrilly. "It's time to get up and greet the day!"

"Is this payback for cockblocking you?" Zayn grumbles. "If so, then I've totally learned my lesson. I will never do it again."

"That's nice to know, but no, this isn't my revenge," Louis tells him. "This is just a preview of what's to come."

Zayn groans and rolls over to face Louis. Louis ceases his banging and smiles brightly at him. "I hate you," Zayn tells him.

"Likewise," Louis says. "Now get up, you're making me breakfast."

Zayn gets up, but only because he knows that if he doesn't do it himself then Louis will come back and force him out of bed. Lucky for him, though, Louis knows what he's like in the morning so he doesn't expect Zayn to make him an elaborate breakfast. He's just fine with the bowl of Cocoa Puffs that Zayn sets in front of him.

"Thanks mate," Louis says as he takes a bite.

Zayn nods and pours himself a bowl of what Louis calls "disgusting pieces of cardboard". Zayn doesn't care though, because at least he's being healthy instead of eating a bowl of sugar like Louis.

"Tea?" Louis asks hopefully just as Zayn is taking a seat next to him at the kitchen counter.

Zayn groans and stands back up. He's got almost everything he needs out when he realizes that they're all out of milk.

"We're out of milk, Lou," Zayn tells him. "Do you really _need_ milk in your tea?"

"If I don't then I'm not going to have enough energy to stand there and look pretty for two hours," Louis whines.

"I hate you so much," Zayn mutters as he grabs his jacket and tugs it on.

"Thank you, Zaynie!" Louis calls as Zayn exits the flat.

Zayn walks as quickly as he can to the store. He just wants to get Louis' stupid milk so he can make Louis' stupid tea and get Louis out of the house so he can go back to bed. It's also really fucking cold this morning and the last thing Zayn wants is to be out here. It's times like these that Zayn wishes that he had a car. But he and Louis were the kinds of people that liked to save their money since they know that they're not going to have these careers forever.

Zayn gets the milk and practically runs back to his flat he's walking so fast. As he's approaching the door he sees a familiar figure going inside.

"Liam?" Zayn yells as he jogs the rest of the way to the building.

Liam goes tense but holds the door open for Zayn anyway. Zayn mutters a thanks to Liam as he slips inside.

"What are you doing up so early?" Zayn asks Liam while he shuts the door behind himself.

Liam pulls his coat even tighter around himself. "I had to, um, run an errand."

Liam sounds hesitant and unsure of himself, making Zayn think that he's lying. But before Zayn can call him out on it, Liam's hastily retreating to his flat. Zayn sighs in defeat; it seems like every time he thinks that he's gotten closer to Liam, he ends up having another secret that he refuses to tell Zayn. Zayn wonders if he's ever going to figure Liam out.

***

Zayn is absolutely going to kill whoever is at the door right now. It's a little past noon right now but Zayn is using this opportunity to sleep in to make up for being woken up early the day before. But obviously that's not going as well as he planned thanks to whoever is knocking loud enough on the door for the entire building to hear.

"I'm coming!" Zayn shouts after deciding that whoever's there isn't going to go away. They continue knocking until Zayn opens the door, and Niall stumbles forward in surprise.

"I knew you were home," Niall says cheerfully as he steps inside and heads straight for the kitchen.

"Yeah, I was kind of _busy_ though," Zayn lies, hoping to get Niall out of here so he can go back to bed. He doesn't mean to be rude or anything, it's just that he has a date with the guy he's had a crush on for almost a year tonight and he needs his beauty sleep.

"Doing what, sleeping?" Niall teases as he opens up the fridge and searches for something to eat. "But it doesn't matter what you were doing before because this is important."

"What's more important than my sleeping schedule?" Zayn demands.

"It's about your date with Liam," Niall states bluntly.

Zayn suddenly stands straighter, giving Niall his full attention.

Niall pulls out a variety of different jars and containers from the fridge and starts opening them. He's halfway through preparing whatever the hell he's making and Zayn's patience is starting to wear thin when he finally speaks again.

"First of all," Niall says, spreading some peanut butter on a slice of bread, "where are you taking him? Wait, let me rephrase that question. How fancy should he dress up?"

Zayn quirks up an eyebrow. "What makes you think he should dress up?"

Niall shrugs, picking up a jar of, what is that, mayonnaise? Zayn doesn't even know how that got in there considering he and Louis don't even _like_ mayonnaise. "I just assumed since you're a model that you're loaded and you probably want to take him out somewhere nice." He pauses, then adds, "That, and Louis overheard you making reservations at some French restaurant the other day and he told me."

Zayn groans. It's impossible to hide anything from Louis in this place. "Tell him to wear a casual suit."

Niall looks confused. "That doesn't make any sense. What's the point of a suit if it's casual?"

"Just tell him that it's fancy, but not that fancy, you get what I'm saying?"

"I don't, but hopefully Liam will," Niall answers. He adds some lettuce and cheese to his sandwich, and Zayn would be lying if he didn't say that it's the most disgusting sandwich he's ever seen. "Okay, the next thing I want to talk about are your intentions."

"Who are you, Liam's overprotective father?"

Niall laughs. "Sort of. Did Liam tell you that he can only promise you one date?"

Zayn nods.

Niall takes a bite of his "sandwich" and chews and swallows before responding. "It's not that he has anything against or has no interest in you. Believe me, he does. But there's this... complication and because of it he doesn't really go on dates or have a lot of free time."

That's when Zayn snaps. He's tired of everyone knowing what Liam's big secret is and refusing to tell him. "What is this 'complication' that no one's telling me about? Why is it okay for everyone to know about Liam's life except me?"

Niall looks taken aback by Zayn's sudden outburst. "Look, if it was me, I would have no problem telling you. In fact, I don't know why he's making such a big deal about it and not telling you, because it's really not. But he doesn't want me to tell, so I won't. If you really want to know, though, you're going to have to ask Liam yourself or force it out of Louis."

"Louis knows too?"

Niall nods. "Yeah, he can be really persuasive when he wants to be. But I made him swear on his life not to tell anyone that Liam hasn't told, and I threatened him pretty badly if he did tell. So if you want him to tell you then you're going to have to offer him an even better deal."

Zayn buries his face in his hands and groans in frustration. "I just don't understand why no one will tell me!"

Now Niall's annoyed too. "I don't know, Zayn! Just don't make a big deal about it, alright? It's just that Liam _really_ likes you and he doesn't want to ruin anything between the two of you by telling you."

Zayn raises his eyebrows. "Is it really that bad?"

"It's _not_ ," Niall insists. "It's just..." he sighs and puts his head in his hands. “Don't make a big deal about it. And don't be angry with him if he never wants to go out with you ever again. Just accept that that's the way it is, alright?"

Zayn is still completely confused by Niall's words, but he nods anyway. Niall grins and continues eating his sandwich.

"Now," he says with his mouth full of food, "back to the date. What time are you planning on getting him home?"

"What, does he have a curfew or something?" Zayn jokes.

Niall gives him a serious look. "Something like that."

Nothing else is said on the subject of Liam and their date. Zayn asks Niall about how his classes are going, and Niall asks Zayn about his career.

At some point Louis comes in, but instead of staying in the kitchen and talking to them he goes straight to his room and slams the door behind himself.

"Lou?" Zayn calls in a concerned tone. "What's up? Are you okay?"

There's no answer.

"Maybe he's just been having a bad day," Niall suggests.

"Maybe..." Zayn agrees. But it's not like Louis had anything going on today that would make him upset and annoyed. And even if he _is_ having a bad day the first thing he would've done when he came home was complain all about it to Zayn. The only thing that Zayn can think of that would make Louis act this way is something bad happened with Harry, but even then Zayn thinks that Louis would tell him as soon as possible.

"Anyway," Niall says, interrupting his thoughts, "I should get going. I'll see you later, Zayn!"

Zayn mutters a goodbye as Niall lets himself out. He groans at the huge mess Niall left on his kitchen counter (he makes a mental note to remind Niall to clean up after himself before he leaves next time), but ignores it in favor of finding out what's up with Louis.

He knocks softly on the door. Louis doesn't answer so Zayn knocks a little louder. There's still no answer so Zayn decides to just walk in (even though he knows that Louis will be pissed at him if he does so). But as Zayn is starting to open the door Louis pushes it open quickly, slamming Zayn in the face with it as he does so.

"Fuck!" Zayn yells in pain, his hands flying to his face.

"Oh shit, Zayn, I'm so sorry!" Louis apologizes. "I didn't mean to, I swear. Here, let me see how bad it is."

Zayn hesitantly takes his hands away. He seriously hopes that it doesn't look too bad. Not only would it ruin his date with Liam tonight, but his job literally requires him to look his best all the time. And having a broken nose would probably be the worst thing that could happen to him, especially with one of the most important fashion shows of his career coming up at the end of the month.

Louis examines Zayn's nose. "I don't think it's broken," he concludes after just a few seconds.

Zayn rolls his eyes. "How would you know? You're not a doctor."

"No," Louis agrees, "but I am a young adult that knows how to use Google." He grins as he pulls up Google on his phone. Zayn waits as Louis types in what he's searching for. He finds what he's looking for apparently, because soon he's studying Zayn's nose and then glancing back at the phone screen. After a few more careful glances between Zayn and the phone he finally decides that Zayn's nose is not broken.

"And it doesn't look that bad, does it?" Zayn asks.

"No, you still look just as gorgeous as ever, babe," Louis tells him. He moves past him into the living room and flops onto the couch.

Zayn quickly checks himself out in the mirror just to make sure that Louis' right before following Louis' lead and falling onto the couch beside him.

"So," Zayn says, "how are you doing?"

"Fine," Louis says, but it sounds a little strained. And Zayn's been Louis' best friend for a long time, he _knows_ when Louis' lying.

"Louis," Zayn sighs, but he doesn't get much farther than that because Louis is cutting him off.

"I'm fine, Zayn. Everything's _fine_. Besides, shouldn't you be too busy thinking about your date with Liam to worry about me?"

"Don't change the subject," Zayn snaps. "I'm so sick of everyone keeping secrets from me! I tell you guys everything and you refuse to tell me shit! And that's fine and everything, you're allowed to keep secrets, all I want to know is _why_ you feel the need to keep it from me?"

Louis sighs. "I'm sorry, Zaynie, I really am. And I promise I'll tell you eventually, but now isn't really a good time."

"Fine, whatever," Zayn mutters, annoyed. "But will you at least tell me what Liam's deal is?"

Louis tenses. "Zayn--"

Zayn stops him because he already knows where this is going. "I know, it's not your secret to tell, and Niall would have your head if he found out that you told me."

"Don't think about it too much," Louis tells him, "and just enjoy your date. Liam _really_ likes you, and you _really_ like him, so don't make a big deal about it."

Zayn can't help but wonder how many times he's heard that today.

"And," Louis continues, "if you want, I'll stay out of the flat tonight, if you get what I'm saying."

Zayn does get what Louis' saying, but he's not sure if Liam is ready to get that far with Zayn after just the first date. Hell, Zayn's not even sure if _he's_ ready to get that far with Liam.

"I appreciate the offer, Lou, but I don't think that will be necessary," Zayn responds.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Zayn?" Louis asks. "You've had a massive crush on Liam for almost a year and you're telling me that you're not going to fuck him at the first chance you get?"

"Not everyone is like you, Lou," Zayn says. "Sex doesn't always make a date good."

"I guess you've got a point," Louis says. "Not to mention the fact that you're going out with one of the most attractive people I've ever met. And I know attractive, I'm a model. So the date is going to be amazing with or without sex."

Zayn groans. "You're making me think that it's going to amazing, and now it's going to be a huge disappointment."

Louis grins and pats his leg. "It's going to be great, and you know it."

***

Zayn is freaking out. He's supposed to pick up Liam in less than fifteen minutes and he's standing in the middle of his room half-naked with his entire fucking closet lying all over his floor. He has no clue what he's going to wear, much less how he's going to do his hair. And Louis is absolutely no help.

"Honestly Zayn," he's saying as he lies on his back on Zayn's bed, "I don't think it matters what you wear. You're a fucking model, you're going to look good in whatever you wear."

Zayn rolls his eyes. That's Louis' excuse every time Zayn finds him wearing something completely ridiculous.

"I'm not trying to just look good though, Louis," Zayn says, picking up a shirt, holding it against his chest, and then discarding it. "I'm trying to look good _for Liam_. I want to make sure that he'll like whatever I choose."

Louis sighs heavily, stands up, and crosses over to where Zayn is nervously searching through the piles of clothing. He puts a hand on each of Zayn's shoulders, stilling him. "Zayn," he says in a low voice, "just calm the fuck down. Liam is probably going be just as, if not more, nervous than you. In fact, he's probably freaking out as much as you are right now."

Zayn nods, waiting for Louis to continue.

"And if you're too busy freaking out and thinking about everything that could go wrong, then the date's not going to go well," Louis tells him. "And even if something does go horribly wrong at least you're with Liam. So just relax and try to enjoy yourself, no matter what happens."

Zayn takes a deep breath. Louis' right; he just needs to calm down because as long as he's with Liam, he's happy.

Once he's calmed down, he and Louis finally find something for him to wear, and by the time he's done doing his hair he's only five minutes late in picking up Liam. As he's walking out the door Louis wishes him luck and informs him that he put a condom in his wallet just in case the two of them can't keep their hands off each other until they get home. Zayn sincerely hopes that Liam didn't overhear that.

He's pretty sure he didn't since the first thing Niall says when he answers the door is, "He's freaking the fuck out right now, and I don't know what to do."

Zayn tries to peer over Niall's shoulder to see further into the flat, but Niall blocks him. "Why is he freaking out?"

"He can't figure out what to wear and he keeps saying, 'Zayn is so perfect, and he's going to come over here looking like a model, especially since he actually _is_ a model', and he's worried that he's going to look like shit and you won't like him anymore."

Zayn honestly never thought he would say this, but Louis Tomlinson was right.

He smiles and tells Niall, "Tell Liam that he could come out here wearing a paper bag and I would still like him."

Niall rolls his eyes. "You two are so gross, and you're not even actually dating. I'll be right back."

"Can I come in?" Zayn asks.

Niall shakes his head. "Better not. He'll be out soon, just hold on." Niall shuts the door before Zayn can say anything else.

Zayn slumps against the doorframe as he waits Liam to come out. He wonders why it would be such a big deal for him to come in. Maybe Liam just doesn't want Zayn to see him until he's completely ready. He's sure that's the case.

It's another ten minutes or so by the time Liam is finally ready. Zayn can't believe that Liam was actually worried about not looking good. In fact, Zayn's pretty sure that Liam looks even better than he does right now, and Zayn's a fucking model.

Zayn realizes he's been staring for way too long when Liam says, his eyes wide with worry, "Oh god, I look awful don't I. I'm just going to go change." He turns back around and opens the door, but Zayn grabs his arm, stopping him.

"No, Liam, you look amazing," Zayn tells him. Liam turns to face him again and gives him a relieved smile. "You look better than I do actually."

Liam snorts. "Are you kidding me? You look so good all the time and--" Liam cuts himself off and his face flushes. "I'm just going to stop talking now."

Zayn chuckles and holds out his hand. "Shall we?"

Liam grins and takes his hand.

***

Zayn likes to save his money as often as he can, but occasionally he does splurge. This night is one of those times. He takes Liam to this new French restaurant that just opened up downtown that will probably cost him a hundred quid for each of their meals. He figures, though, that Liam is worth it, especially if Liam was telling the truth and this is the only date that they're ever going on. But Zayn is determined to make this date so great that Liam will want nothing more than to go on another date with him.

Liam gasps when the cab pulls up in front of the building and he breathes, "Zayn..."

"Don't say anything," Zayn says, grabbing Liam's hand and leading him to the entrance. "I know it's expensive but I want to spoil you. If that's okay."

They step through the door and it's even fancier inside. The tables are all covered with white tablecloths and the chairs upholstered with red velvet. The walls are painted a beautiful, deep red and there's a giant chandelier in the middle of the restaurant.

Liam stares wide-eyed at the decor and says, "It's okay, I just-- I'm not really used to this. Trust me, I love getting spoiled, who doesn't?" Zayn laughs at that. "But, this isn't really... me I guess. Do you know what I'm saying?"

Zayn does. This isn't exactly his scene either, he just wanted to do something special for Liam. But then he remembers what Louis said and thinks that whatever they end up doing, as long as he's with Liam, he's happy.

"So do you want to go somewhere else instead?" Zayn asks.

Liam shakes his head. "No, no this is totally fine. I mean, you've made reservations and everything and we're already here, and I don't want to be a bother or anything--"

"Liam," Zayn says and he stops rambling. "Are you comfortable here?"

Liam looks like he's about to say yes, but then he sighs and tells him, "No, not really."

"Thank god, because this isn't really my scene," Zayn admits. "I just wanted to impress you."

Liam laughs. " _You_ wanted to impress _me_?" he says incredulously.

"I don't see why that's so hard to believe," Zayn responds. "I mean, you're kind of amazing."

Liam stares at Zayn like he's grown two more heads. "Are you serious? But you're-- and I'm just--"

Zayn has no idea what Liam's getting at so he just squeezes Liam's hand and asks, "So where do you want to go instead?"

Liam grins and squeezes back. "I think I have something in mind."

***

They end up eating at the pizzeria that Niall works at. Niall's not working, but one of Liam's other friends, Nick, is and he gets them a table out on the patio. As he's seating them he jokes that he's glad Liam finally has someone to take his sexual frustration out on. Liam's face turns red, but Zayn laughs.

Zayn thinks that this is so much better than the French restaurant. For one, both he and Liam seem to be more comfortable and at ease with each other here than they probably would have been if they went to the other restaurant. And, the atmosphere here is friendlier and no one seems to care when Zayn or Liam says something or laughs a little too loudly.

"Can I tell you something?" Liam asks towards the end of the night while he pokes around at his piece of chocolate cake that Zayn insisted they get.

"You know you can," Zayn says. He thinks he's a terrible person for hoping that what Liam is about to tell him is the secret he's been keeping from Zayn all this time.

"I've kind of been wanting to ask you out since the day I met you," Liam admits softly.

Zayn stares at him. Niall had told him that Liam wanted to go out with Zayn as much as Zayn wanted to go out with Liam, but he didn't know that Liam's felt this way for that long. "Then why didn't you?" Zayn asks.

Liam bites his lip and stares down at his plate. "Well at first it was mostly because I didn't know if you liked me back. But then when you asked me out the first time I said no because..." He trails off and shakes his head. "Nevermind, we're going out now so it doesn't really matter does it?"

"I guess not," Zayn says, but he's still curious to know what kind of secret Liam is keeping from him. He shakes his head, trying to get rid of his curiosity because Liam's right, they're on a date so it doesn't really matter what he's hiding. Besides, Zayn's sure that Liam will tell him eventually. If Liam doesn't, then Louis surely will.

Zayn looks over to the middle of the patio where there's a big space where there are no tables. He knows that on Tuesdays they have a karaoke night, but on other days they use it as a makeshift dance floor. There are two other couples out there at the moment dancing slowly to the song that's playing over the speakers, and Zayn suddenly gets an idea.

"Do you want to dance?" Zayn asks, giving Liam a hopeful look.

Liam glances up from his plate and smiles. "I'd love to."

Zayn stands up, takes Liam's hand and leads him to the dance floor. The song playing at the moment is some hipster song that Zayn's never heard. Just as they're taking their place on the floor, Liam's hands on Zayn's waist and Zayn's around Liam's neck, the song ends abruptly, someone shouts, "Who let Grimshaw pick the station?" and suddenly the sounds of Taylor Swift's _Fearless_ fill the night air.

"Well this is... romantic," Liam jokes.

Zayn groans and drops his head onto Liam's shoulder. "This isn't exactly how I planned for this night to go. We were supposed to have some ridculously expensive and fancy dinner, not have pizza and end up dancing to Taylor Swift."

Liam laughs and runs his hands soothingly up Zayn's back. "It's okay, Zayn, I wanted to come here remember. And this isn't the worst music we could be listening to right now."

"Liam, is there something you're not telling me?" Zayn teases, looking up. "Are you secretly in love with Taylor Swift?"

"Okay, I'll admit it, I love Taylor Swift," Liam says. "I've kind of got a thing for blondes."

Zayn frowns, thinking of Niall and what he thought when he first met the two of them. Maybe Niall _wasn't_ straight and he and Liam were leading a secret love affair--

"Zayn," Liam says seriously, stopping his thoughts from going too far, "I'm just kidding. The only thing I've got a thing for are crazy gorgeous models that are secretly huge nerds."

Zayn bites his lip to keep his grin from taking over his face. "That's so cheesy."

"We're slow dancing on a patio under the stars to Taylor Swift," Liam raises an eyebrow. "This entire situation is cheesy."

"You know what would make it even cheesier?" Zayn says. He presses even closer to Liam and Liam instinctively tightens his grip on Zayn's waist. "If you kissed me right now."

Liam's eyes dart to Zayn's lips and he leans in, so close, and his lips just barely brush Zayn's when he moves away. He presses a kiss to Zayn's cheek, his lips lingering against his skin for a moment or two as he whispers, "I'm sorry."

Zayn takes in a shuddering breath. Even though it was only a kiss on the cheek it still feels so good to have Liam pressed up against him like this and have his lips on his skin. But it leaves him wanting _more, more, more_.

"What for?" Zayn asks.

"I want to go out with you again, Zayn," Liam says, and Zayn's heart leaps but falls again at the next thing Liam says. "But I can't. And for that I'm sorry."

Zayn has to admit that he's disappointed. But he knows that he shouldn't get upset over this, at least not right now, he just has to enjoy what he has with Liam at the moment. "That's okay," he assures Liam.

"You're not upset?" Liam asks confused.

Zayn shakes his head. "Let's just enjoy this right now."

Liam nods and they finish dancing to _Fearless_. A couple more songs play before Liam is asking Zayn to take him home since it's getting kind of late.

When they get back to the building Zayn walks Liam up to his door. "Thank you, Zayn," Liam says with a soft smile. "I had an amazing time."

"Me too," Zayn says, returning the smile. "I'll see you soon, then."

Liam nods before going inside and shutting the door between them softly.

***

Zayn doesn't see Liam for the next couple of days. He's busy anyway, meeting with Richards about the show in a few weeks, but he should've run into him at least once. He's seen Niall running in and out of the building countless times, and has even seen Harry going into their flat a few times.

He wonders if maybe he should just go to their flat and see Liam. But then he thinks that it might be better if he kept his distance and wait for Liam to see him himself. That doesn't stop him from wondering what Liam's deal is though.

"Maybe he's a serial killer," Zayn suggests to Louis four days after his and Liam's date.

Louis sighs and reluctantly looks away from the TV screen. "If he was a serial killer then wouldn't he be trying to get _close_ to you rather than stay away?"

"Yeah, you're right," Zayn says. "Maybe he's a Russian spy!"

Louis rolls his eyes. "Liam's not Russian."

"But if he was a spy then he would have the ability to fake an English accent pretty damn well," Zayn says.

"He's not a spy, Zayn," Louis says.

"He could be."

"But he's not."

"You don't know that."

" _He's not a fucking spy_!"

Zayn blinks at Louis, surprised by his sudden outburst. Louis sighs again, stands up, and leaves the flat without another word to Zayn.

Now that Zayn thinks about it, Louis' been acting really strangely these past few days. Sure, he hasn't been completely AWOL like Liam, but he hasn't exactly been himself lately. Every time he ran into Zayn he'd mutter a quick "hello" and then hurry out of the flat or straight into his room, locking the door behind himself. Today was the first time in the past week that Louis' actually taken the time to sit down and hang out or have a conversation with Zayn.

Zayn gets off the couch and leaves the flat as well, hoping to catch Louis before he leaves the building so he can ask him what's up. When he steps outside, though, the door to building is just closing. If Zayn runs he might be able to catch up to Louis, but he's not sure if Louis will actually talk to him so he decides that it's not worth it.

He's starting head back inside the flat when he hears someone call his name. Zayn looks up to see Niall waving at him from the balcony.

"What's up, Nialler?" Zayn asks as Niall's coming down the stairs. When everyone else is acting weird, Zayn can always count on Niall to act like his same old self.

"I'm glad I caught you, mate," Niall says when he reaches Zayn. "Liam's been really sick, and I have to go to class, but I need someone to watch him and make sure he has everything he needs. So I was wondering if you could do it."

So _that's_ why Zayn hasn't seen him all week. He can't help but let out a breath of relief. Although that doesn't mean that Liam's not a spy.

"Sure, I can watch him," Zayn tells him.

"Thanks Zayn, I owe you one," Niall says, relieved. "I won't be gone that long, my class is only an hour. I'll see you later!"

Before Zayn heads upstairs he goes back to his flat and gathers all of the cold medicines he can find. He's sure that Liam already has everything he needs in his flat, but he'd rather be safe than sorry.

He knocks on the door softly (because he's not sure if Liam has a headache or not), and he hears a hoarse voice from inside call, "Come in, it's open."

Zayn steps inside and looks around. He's never actually been inside Liam and Niall's flat before, they tend to hang out at Zayn and Louis' flat instead. There's not much to see, though. The layout is exactly like Zayn's flat, the only difference being the furniture occupying it. There's a few posters on the walls and it's a little messy, but other than that it's not that interesting.

Liam's sprawled out on the couch with a blanket wrapped tightly around him. He's pale and he looks like he hasn't slept in days. There's wadded up tissues thrown everywhere, and Zayn can't help but wrinkle his nose in disgust.

"Zayn?" Liam says with a small cough. "What are you doing here?" Liam's eyes are wide, like he doesn't want Zayn to be here at all.

"Niall wanted me to watch you for an hour just to make sure you don't die or anything," Zayn says, his lips tilting up in a half smile in an effort to make Liam more comfortable with his presence.

"Just an hour?" Liam croaks out.

Zayn nods. "If that's okay with you."

Liam gives him a small smile. "Yeah, that's fine. I'm just going to sleep."

"Alright."

Liam closes his eyes and soon enough his breath has evened out, and he's fast asleep. Zayn sits down on an armchair next to the couch, unsure of what to do with himself. He thinks about searching through the flat for something to read, but he deems that an invasion of privacy and decides not to do it.

After about five minutes of doing nothing he turns on the TV, but keeps it on a low volume so as not to disturb Liam's peaceful slumber. He's not really paying attention, though, instead he's on his phone checking Twitter or Facebook, but nothing interesting is going on there, so he turns his attention back to the TV.

Forty-five minutes in, he gets a text from Niall that says that he has to stay after class for some group project and that he'll be home a half-hour late, at the latest. Zayn sighs and hurries downstairs to grab a book and then sits back down in the same spot.

A while later there's a knock at the door. At first, Zayn thinks it's Niall coming back earlier than he thought, but then he realizes that Niall most likely wouldn't knock to get into his own flat. He thinks that it's probably Louis then, wanting to talk to Niall about their fight. Or it could be Harry, looking for Niall or offering to watch Liam.

When Zayn opens the door he finds that it's none of them. Instead, it's a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with blonde hair and a baby in her hands.

"Can I help you?" Zayn asks.

"Who are you?" she asks with an annoyed tone, like she thinks Zayn is some stranger that's currently in the process of murdering Liam.

"I'm Zayn, Liam and Niall's downstairs neighbor," Zayn tells her.

Her expression changes from one of hostility into one full of warmth. " _Oh_ ," she says as if she suddenly recognizes him. Zayn's not sure how that's possible since he's positive that he's never seen this woman before in his life. "Liam's told me so much about you."

"Er, okay?" Zayn says with confusion. Why would Liam be telling this woman all about him?

"I'm Ruth, Liam's sister," she explains quickly.

"Oh, okay," Zayn says, smiling back at her. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Ruth says. "So how is Liam feeling? Has he gotten any better?"

Zayn glances back at Liam. He's not sure what he looked like when Liam first got sick, but he doesn't look that great now, so he says, "I'm afraid not."

"Shit," Ruth mutters. Her eyes widen when she realizes what she said and she glances at the baby. "Pretend you didn't just hear me swear in front of the baby. Liam hates it when I do that."

Zayn's back to being confused. "Why would that matter?" If it's her baby, it shouldn't matter what Liam says to do or not do, right?

Ruth shrugs. "Don't ask me, it's not like she's going to remember it. Anyway, I promised Liam that I would watch her until five, but unfortunately I got called into work so I have to drop her off early. I hope that's not a problem with you."

"Um," Zayn hesitates. He's so beyond perplexed by this situation. She's talking about this baby as if it's Liam's and not hers...

That's when it hits him. Liam has a daughter. That's the secret he's been hiding from Zayn all this time. That's why they've never hung out at Liam and Niall's flat. And that's probably why Liam didn't want to go out with him the first time, or why he couldn't do it again.

"Oh my god," Ruth says, breaking Zayn away from his thoughts, "you had no idea, did you?"

Zayn shakes his head.

"Fuck," Ruth says, "I'm so sorry that you had to find out like this. But if it makes you feel any better, Liam's probably going to kill me when he finds out that I'm the one that told you." She forces a laugh. "I really do have to go though, so if you could just..."

Zayn forces himself out of his stupor and takes the baby from Ruth.

"Thanks, Zayn," she says. "The crib is in Liam's room, down the hall, first door on the left. And I really am sorry about this."

"It's fine," Zayn says, but neither of them believe it.

"Maybe I'll see you later?" she says.

Zayn can't really do anything except nod.

Ruth starts to leave but Zayn stops her. "What's her name?" he asks her so softly that she almost doesn't hear it.

She smiles. "He named her Nicola, after our older sister. But we call her Nikki for short."

He mutters a quiet thanks and lets her leave. He goes back inside the flat, finds Liam's room, and puts Nikki in her crib. He debates waking Liam up now and demanding why he didn't tell Zayn that he has a daughter or letting him sleep and confronting him later. In the end, he decides that it's better to let Liam sleep.

However, as he's placing Nikki inside the crib he hears footsteps out in the hallway. He turns around just as the door opens, revealing a shocked Liam, his eyes glancing between Zayn and Nikki.

"I can explain," is the first thing out of Liam's mouth.

"Okay, explain," Zayn says bitterly. He hates himself for being so angry with Liam when he's sick and he sounds so weak, but there's really nothing he can do to stop this from happening now.

"I have a daughter," Liam says.

"No shit."

"Just listen," Liam insists. He takes a deep breath and continues, "I've pretty much had a crush on you since I met you. I mean, how could I not? You're gorgeous, but you're also so... I don't know, real, I guess?"

Zayn raises his eyebrows. "What do you mean by 'real'?"

"Like, I've always thought of models as these people who are so attractive that they don't even exist. But then I met you and I couldn't help but like you. But I never thought there was a chance between us. That is until you asked me out. And I said no."

"Because you have a kid," Zayn says.

"No," Liam says quickly. "Well, yeah, that's part of it, but it's not the only reason."

"I just don't get why you didn't tell me," Zayn says.

"Because I didn't want you to hate me," Liam tells him softly. "Or, I didn't want it to get serious only to have you leave. I was just... I was afraid of what might happen if I told you."

"You really think I'm like that Liam?" Zayn asks, stepping closer to him. "That I'm just some dick who's going lose all interest in you because you have a kid? Is that really who you think I am?"

"It's happened before!" Liam says, raising his voice so much that Zayn's afraid that they're going to wake up Nikki. "So you can't really blame me for being careful with my heart, and being afraid that anyone who comes into my life is going to leave just as easily."

"Fine, Liam, if that's what you expect me to do, then that's exactly what I'll do," Zayn spits. He pushes past Liam and leaves the flat without looking back.

He expects the flat to be empty when he stomps inside, slamming the door shut behind himself. Instead, he finds Louis pacing the kitchen, shouting into his phone.

"What about this don't you fucking understand?" Louis screams. "I can't do this anymore, okay?" He pauses, and Zayn figures that the person on the other end is speaking. "Go ahead, see if I fucking care."

He hangs up and clenches his hands into fists. He turns around and freezes at the sight of Zayn.

"Um, hi Zaynie," Louis says, his voice sounding calm and collected, a vast difference between what Zayn just heard a second ago. "How much of that did you hear?"

Zayn doesn't answer him. Instead he says, "Liam has a kid."

Louis nods, not looking surprised by the news at all.

"You knew didn't you," Zayn says suspiciously.

Louis bites his lip and nods again. "Niall told me a couple weeks ago, the night we had them over to celebrate our last shoot for the catalogue."

That explains why Louis and Niall had been in such a bad mood that night. Louis must have been angry with him for not telling him sooner, or maybe for not letting him tell Zayn, and Niall was probably mad because Louis made him tell Liam's secret, which wasn't even his to tell in the first place.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Zayn asks, feeling a bit betrayed. It's one thing for Liam not to tell him, but to have his _best friend_ keep it from him?

"Niall wouldn't let me tell you!" Louis says. "But I wanted to. I thought you deserved to know, but obviously Liam and Niall didn't think the same thing."

Zayn crosses his arms and bites the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming at Louis in rage. "Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

"Yes," Louis admits. "I'm switching contracts; I'm not modeling for Will Richards anymore."

Zayn doesn't say anything. He just nods, grabs his jacket and leaves the flat.

***

He's not sure how, but somehow Zayn ends up walking to the park. He really wishes he had thought to grab his pack of cigarettes before he left because his hands are shaking and he needs to distract himself from thinking about what just happened.

He can't believe Louis would do something like that. What was he thinking, just switching contracts like that? And why wouldn't he have told Zayn what he was doing?

Zayn is so frustrated and furious with Louis that he doesn't even notice when he walks right into someone taking pictures.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry mate," Zayn apologizes.

The photographer shakes his head and says, "It's fine, it happens all the time." He looks up at Zayn and both of their eyes widen in surprise.

"Harry?" Zayn says. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking some pictures," Harry tells him, holding up the camera a little. "You?"

Zayn shrugs. "I just needed a place to think."

"You wanna talk about it?" Harry asks.

Zayn's about to shake his head no, but then he realizes that, yeah, he kind of does want to talk about it. "Sure."

Harry nods and leads him over to a nearby bench. Zayn doesn't speak for a few moments, and Harry doesn't try and force him to. But when Zayn finally does speak, it all comes pouring out and he can't stop.

"I found out that Liam has a daughter," he starts. "And that's not what's upsetting me. It's the fact that he didn't want to tell me that he has a kid. It just feels like he doesn't like me or trust me enough to tell. And then, I find out that Louis, my _best fucking friend_ , has known about this and wouldn't tell me. But that's not even the worst part, he switched contracts! Without even telling me that he was doing it. What the fuck made him think that that was an okay thing to do?"

Harry doesn't say anything right away. He just nods slowly, taking it all in and thinking about what he needs to say to calm Zayn down.

"Here's what you should know about Liam," Harry says. "He was with this girl for a long time. Like, a _really_ long time. They dated the last two years of high school and the first year of uni. Now, I'm not totally sure what happened at this point because I wasn't friends with them then, but this is what Niall told me. So one day she got pregnant and she avoided Liam like the plague because she was afraid of what he would think. And she couldn't get an abortion because her parents were pro-life or something like that, I don't know, let me get back to the point.

"So she was avoiding Liam, but somehow he found out. She told him that she was looking into adoption, but Liam said that he could help her take care of the kid. But then a few months after she had Nikki, she left. She didn't even tell Liam anything, she texted _Niall_ to tell Liam that she couldn't stay because she wasn't 'fit' for motherhood. Niall tried to convince Liam to put her up for adoption, but Liam couldn't do it. He cared too much about Nikki to let her go.

"Liam dated a few people, but it never got too serious because every time he mentioned that he had a kid they'd go running for the hills. So he decided that he never wanted anything serious, because too many people have run away from him in the past. _That's_ why he never told you. Because he was too afraid that you'd walk out of his life like the rest of them, and he liked you too much to let that happen."

Now that he knows the whole story, Zayn kind of feels like a dick. He should have waited and let Liam explain himself. Instead he just walked out, doing exactly what Liam was afraid of. At the time he felt like it was okay because he was angry and in the heat of the moment, but now that he knows _why_ Liam was afraid of him walking away he wishes that he hadn't done it.

He really needs to apologize to Liam.

Harry's not done talking though. "As for Louis, he switched contracts because he was given a better offer. He didn't want to do it, but I told him that he should because it's an incredible opportunity. So he did. And he didn't want to tell you until the deal was done just in case something fell through. Zayn, Louis wanted you to be excited for him. If he had just waited a little bit to tell you then he would've had time to explain it without you freaking out.

"Zayn, you have to see things from the other person's point of view before you decide that you're right, and they're wrong."

Zayn thinks over everything that Harry said. He knows that Harry's right, that Liam and Louis had good reasons for doing what they did, but he's still mad with them and it may take him a couple of days to fully forgive them.

"Do you feel better now?" Harry asks after a few moments.

Zayn nods. He does feel much calmer than he did when he first arrived in the park. But there's still one thing that he needs to know. "How did you know all that about Louis?"

Harry blushes. "We've, uh, we've kind of been dating for a while."

Zayn raises his eyebrows. He knew that Louis wanted to bang Harry, but he didn't know that they were actually _dating_. And just when he thought nothing else could surprise him today. "How long is 'awhile'?"

"Like, a week," Harry says, his face getting redder by the second. "It's been... nice."

This is too weird. Nothing with Louis is ever "nice". "Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"

Harry laughs. "Yes."

"Just checking."

Harry stands up and offers Zayn a smile. "I have to go, but I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah," Zayn says, standing up as well. He holds out a hand for Harry to shake, but Harry wraps his arms around Zayn instead. Zayn's a little surprised because they've only seen each other a total of four times and they're not really on this level of friendship yet. Zayn melts into the hug anyway, and hugs Harry back.

"You don't have to forgive them right away," Harry tells him after they pull away from each other. "Just know that they both care about you a lot and the last thing they want to do is upset you. But that doesn't mean that you should forgive them because they want you to. I want you to forgive them when _you're_ ready to. Okay?"

"Okay," Zayn says. "Thank you, Harry."

"No problem, after all I am a psychology major. It's my job to make people feel better." Harry grins. "I'll see you later, Zayn."

"Bye Harry," Zayn says, smiling for what feels like the first time that day.

***

Liam's gone. As soon as Harry had left Zayn went straight back home and up to Liam's flat to apologize to him. But when he got there Niall glared at him and told him that Liam had left without any explanation as to what happened or where he was going. And then he promptly slammed the door in Zayn's face.

Louis, however, is home, but he's holed up in his room and refuses to come out no matter what Zayn says or bribes him with. After offering to make Louis breakfast for a month-- which he _so_ does not want to do, but he has to get Louis out of there somehow-- he decides that Louis isn't going to come out and he retreats back to his own room.

Louis doesn't come out at all that night. Zayn sees him briefly the next day passing through the kitchen and straight out the door. Zayn sighs. He's not sure why Louis' acting like this. Shouldn't it be _him_ that's pissed and Louis the one begging for his forgiveness, not the other way around? He guesses that Louis' probably mad at Zayn for lashing out on him when he found out that Louis knew about Liam and for not giving him time to explain the whole switching contracts situation.

Zayn hates fighting with Louis. Of course they're going to fight sometimes, all best friends do, but that doesn't mean that Zayn enjoys it. And every time they fight it tends to only last at most an hour and then they can't help but laugh and forgive each other. But Louis' been angry with Zayn for almost a day now, and Zayn is tired of it. He just wants them to go back to sitting on the couch doing nothing all day.

So he comes up with a plan.

He walks to the grocery store, conveniently located just around the corner from their building, and buys all of the necessary ingredients for a meal with all of Louis' favorite foods. When he gets home he looks up the recipes for all them and gets cooking.

Louis comes home early in the evening, gives Zayn a curious look as he passes through the kitchen, and straight into his room. Zayn finishes preparing the dinner and sets places at the dining room table (which they never use) with their finest dishes-- the few that _aren't_ paper or plastic.

Zayn takes a deep breath and heads for Louis' room. Before he can leave the kitchen, though, Louis comes out of his room and takes a look around.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"A truce," Zayn tells him. "I'm sorry for lashing out on you for not telling me about Liam. I know that Niall told you not to tell me, and even though I'm your best friend I respect that you didn't go against Niall. Also, I'm sorry for not giving you a chance to fully explain why you switched contracts without telling me. You don't need to now, by the way. Harry told me everything."

Louis raises an eyebrow. " _Everything_?"

Zayn nods. "Everything. Including the part about how the two of you have apparently been dating for a week."

Louis' face turns bright red. "I suppose I should apologize too."

"For..." Zayn prompts.

"No, I said I _should_ apologize," Louis clarifies, "I didn't say I was actually going to."

Zayn laughs and shakes his head fondly. "Prick."

"But you love me anyway, right?" Louis asks, sounding genuinely concerned that Zayn doesn't love him.

Zayn nods, and crosses over to Louis and envelops him in a hug.

"I'm sorry," Louis murmurs into his shoulder. "For everything. For not telling you about Liam, or about me switching contracts, or about Harry, or about how you had a stain on your shirt the night you went out with Liam."

Zayn pulls back and frowns. "I had a stain, and you didn't tell me?"

Louis hugs him again. "Shh, that was all in the past Zaynie. We're forgetting about our mistakes. Well, except for when you cockblocked me. I'm still going to get you back for that."

Zayn rolls his eyes and steps away from Louis. "Seriously? I thought that now that you and Harry are together you'd forgotten about that."

"That doesn't matter, you still cockblocked me."

"Do you want dinner or not?"

Louis looks over at the table. "You did all this so I'd forgive you?" Zayn nods. "Even though _I_ should've been the one begging for _your_ forgiveness?"

"Well I'm not a stubborn dick like you," Zayn says.

Louis gasps dramatically. "How dare you! That's it, I'm ignoring you again."

"Just shut up and eat."

"I'd be offended by you ordering me around, but I'm kind of starving."

Zayn rolls his eyes. Louis may be overdramatic, annoying, and a real dick sometimes, but he cares about Zayn more than anyone else in the entire world-- except his family of course. And Zayn honestly couldn't ask for a better friend.

***

Zayn is outside smoking later that night when he finally sees Liam again. Harry came over after dinner and they all watched some cooking show that Harry's really into for a while, before Louis dragged Harry off to his bedroom. Zayn stayed in the living room for a little bit, but Harry is really loud and he just had to get out of there.

Liam is coming back from his jog when Zayn sees him. He thinks that Liam is going to pass him and go straight on in to the building, but to Zayn's surprise he slows down and rests his back against the wall next to Zayn.

"Hey," Liam says, a little breathlessly.

Zayn nods in his direction.

They stand there, not saying anything, for some time. Liam stares at the ground and shuffles his feet a little as Zayn finishes his cigarette. When he's done he thinks about going back inside, regardless of Liam's presence, but stays because he knows that he has to apologize at some point.

"Harry told me everything," he starts, because that worked with Louis, so why not with Liam?

Liam nods. "Harry told me he told you everything."

Zayn looks down at the ground and rubs the back of his head. "So I guess I should apologize then, huh?"

Liam doesn't say anything and continues to stare down at the ground.

Zayn sighs. "I'm sorry, Liam. I'm sorry I left and acted like a complete dick about everything, when I really shouldn't have. I was just upset that everyone else knew, and I didn't, and I felt like you didn't care about me as much."

Liam finally looks up at Zayn and shakes his head. "No, I do Zayn. I just didn't want you to--"

"--leave, I know," Zayn says. "And I promise I won't, not again. It was just, surprising I guess, and I didn't know what else to do. Can we just start over?"

Liam stares at him for a second before shaking his head again. "No, I don't want us to start over."

"Liam, what--"

"I want you to give me another chance." Liam takes a step closer to Zayn. "I want another chance to be completely honest with you."

Zayn smiles. "Okay."

"Okay," Liam says, returning the smile. "I'm going to start by telling you that I have a daughter, and her name is Nicola, after my sister, but we call her Nikki for short."

"I know, why--"

Liam ignores him and continues. "I also really like you, Zayn, and I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me."

"I'd love to."

***

Zayn doesn't have any time to freak out over his second date with Liam because Liam decides that they're going to go out, right then and there.

"Give me five minutes," Liam says as he runs up the stairs and into his flat.

Zayn hurries into his apartment and to the bathroom to quickly fix his hair.

"Zaynie?" Louis peeks his head into the bathroom, wearing nothing but boxers. "What are you doing?"

Zayn brushes his teeth, not because he's hoping he'll get lucky, but because it's just common courtesy to have fresh breath on a date.

"I'm getting ready for my second date with Liam," Zayn mumbles around his toothbrush.

Louis' eyes widen. "Your-- _what_?" He leans back out into the hallway and yells, "Haz, did you know about this?"

"Know about what?" Zayn hears Harry call back.

"Liam and Zayn made up and they're going out tonight!"

"Are you fucking serious?"

Louis turns back to Zayn. "Harry had no idea."

"So I heard," Zayn says after spitting.

"But Harry hears about everything," Louis tells him. "When did this happen?"

"Like, a minute ago."

"So let me get this straight," Louis starts, "Liam asked you out on a date a minute ago, you said yes, and you're going _tonight_?"

"Yeah, in like three minutes actually." Zayn raises his eyebrows. "Why, do have a problem with that?"

"No, it's just moving really fast," Louis says.

"That's what happens when there's been nothing but sexual tension between two people for a year," Harry says from the doorway. His voice surprising both Zayn and Louis.

"You haven't even known me for a year," Zayn points out.

"Liam _really_ likes to talk about you," Harry says, smirking.

"He--" Zayn starts to say, but he's cut off by a knock at the front door. "Shit," Zayn breathes, turning back to the mirror to examine his hair. It looks fine, but there's just this _one_ piece of hair that won't cooperate.

"Your hair looks _fine_ ," Louis assures him, trying to usher him out of the bathroom.

Zayn looks down at his clothes, an oversized sweatshirt and some old jeans. "Maybe I should change," he says, trying to redirect Louis to his room. "I mean, this isn't exactly the _best_ thing to wear--"

"Calm down, mate," Louis says, stopping them in the middle of the kitchen. "You shouldn't be worrying about this. Liam likes you for you, so just be yourself and you'll be fine."

Zayn nods and lets Louis drag him through the flat and to the door.

"Good luck," Harry says. "And Lou and I will be out _all night_ , so the flat should be empty, just so you know."

"I never agreed to that," Louis protests, and Harry elbows him. "Fine, but I swear to god, Zayn, if you two fuck on the couch or the kitchen counter I'm kicking you out of the house."

Zayn rolls his eyes. "Like you haven't done it in those places before."

"Ignore Louis," Harry says, "and just remember to _have fun_."

Zayn nods, says goodbye to Louis and Harry, who in turn wish Zayn good luck, and opens the door.

Liam grins when he sees Zayn and he asks, "You ready?"

Zayn can't help but smile and relax at the sight of Liam. "Yeah, let's go."

***

Zayn's body is thrumming with nerves as he and Liam get into the cab. He barely registers Liam's voice telling the driver where they're going. As the cab pulls away from the curb, Zayn stares out the window and starts tapping his foot, refusing to look at Liam.

"Zayn?" Liam says, his voice filled with worry. "Are you nervous?"

Zayn sighs and turns to face Liam, still not meeting his eyes. "Yes," he admits softly.

"So am I," Liam says, and Zayn finally looks up at him, and his eyes are huge and scared. "I mean, you're kind of intimidating."

Zayn laughs, but stops when Liam frowns. "I'm sorry, it's just-- I'm like the least intimidating person in the world. And I _really_ like you, Liam. This could actually be the worst date in the entire world and I would still like you. So you have nothing to worry about. I'm just scared that I'm not going to live up to your expectations."

Liam leans in, and Zayn thinks that he's going to kiss him. But instead, Liam cups his cheek in one of his hands and says, "You've already exceeded them."

Zayn hopes that it's dark enough that Liam can't see him blushing. "You're so cheesy," Zayn says, remembering himself saying that exact same thing on their first date.

"I like to think of myself as being romantic rather than cheesy," Liam tells him, smiling softly. He removes his hand from Zayn's cheek, making Zayn frown at him until Liam intertwines their fingers.

A few short moments later they pull up in front of the National Gallery. Liam pays the driver and the two of them get out of the car, never letting go of the other's hand.

"What are we doing here?" Zayn asks, confused. "I thought this place closed at six."

"It does," Liam agrees, leading him past the front entrance to a side door. "But not for us."

That doesn't clear anything up for Zayn. "Why not?"

Liam grins and holds up a set of keys and an employee I.D. "I'm a night security guard here," Liam explains. He chooses a key from his set and unlocks the door. He ushers Zayn through and continues explaining, "I needed a job, but I couldn't leave Nikki alone during the day. So I take care of her during the day while Niall goes to his classes, and Niall takes care of her at night while I work."

They pass through a few more gates and doors where Liam has to flash his I.D. to gain entrance.

"So you're not in school?" Zayn asks.

Liam shakes his head. "No, I, um, I couldn't afford it."

Zayn nods because he understands, he really does. "That's why I originally auditioned to be a model, you know."

Liam looks at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, I couldn't afford to pay for uni and I've always had in interest in modeling, so I thought 'why not?' I got a couple of jobs after my first audition, and then a year later I got a contract."

"What about Louis?" Liam asks.

"I met him at that first audition," Zayn tells him. "His parents wanted him to go to uni, but he wanted to model so they let him audition and see how it worked out for him. They never thought he'd make it, and yet, here we are."

Liam laughs. "I wanted to be a singer, but I knew that that was never going to happen so I decided to go to med school. But, well, you know what happened."

"What was her name?" Zayn asks, even though he knows he shouldn't.

Liam gives him a curious look. "You _really_ want to talk about my ex on our second date?"

Zayn shrugs. "Not really."

Liam chuckles and changes the subject. "Okay, so in order to sneak you in I made a deal with the other guards working tonight that we could only go to, like, two rooms and that you can't leave my sight at all tonight. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Zayn says. "I just-- I can't believe you'd do this for me at all."

Liam shrugs, as if it's nothing. "You told me that you love art, and I happen to work at an art museum, so I thought that it was kind of, I don't know, perfect I guess. Does that sound cheesy?"

Zayn shakes his head. "Not cheesy." He squeezes Liam's hand. "Romantic."

If it wasn't so dark inside Zayn guesses that he'd be able to see Liam's cheeks turning red at his comment.

They arrive at a door that says "MUSEUM ENTRANCE" in big, bold letters and go through it. The door leads to the lobby, which is almost completely dark except for the center light, and two lights coming from a hall that branches off from it.

Zayn's been here before, but never like this. Never when it's dark and desolate, when he's one of the only people here. It's strange and eerie, but he kind of likes it. Especially when Liam's with him, his hand holding tightly onto his.

"I couldn't decide which rooms to bring you to," Liam tells him as he leads Zayn down to hallway and into one of the lit rooms. "So I just told Andy to pick which ones he likes best and turn on the lights in those rooms."

They enter the first lit room, and Zayn jumps from one painting to the next, excitedly telling Liam everything he knows about it and the history of the artist. Liam nods along, and Zayn's not totally sure if Liam really cares about any of this, but it doesn't matter because he's still paying attention and smiling at Zayn like he's the best thing in the entire world.

At one point they sit down on a bench, staring at Vincent Van Gogh's _Sunflowers_ together. Liam's resting his head on Zayn's shoulder, eyes closed, and Zayn's sure he's fallen asleep until he says, "So what do you think."

"I love it," Zayn tells him honestly.

Liam smiles, his eyes still shut. "Good, I'm glad. I've been wanting to take you here since I met you, to be honest. You seem like you fit in here."

Zayn smiles back down at him. "Thank you, Liam. Can I be honest with you?"

Liam takes his head off his shoulder and, giving Zayn a curious look, nods.

"I think you're the most amazing person I've ever met," Zayn tells him, wondering if it's too much. But he doesn't really know how else to phrase it, and Liam doesn't seem to mind if his blush paired with a smile is anything to go by. "You're kind, and sweet, and just-- wonderful in every single way possible. And, I don't even care that you have a kid. Shit, that's not what I meant. I care about your kid, but it's not-- fuck, let me just start over--"

Liam cuts him off by leaning in and pressing his lips gently against Zayn's.

Zayn barely has any time to react before Liam pulls back slightly and says, "I think you're amazing too, Zayn."

Zayn nods and kisses Liam again. Liam grins against Zayn's mouth, and Zayn can't help but smile back because he's waited for this moment for _so long_.

He moves his hands up to Liam's neck, trying to pull him impossibly closer. Liam grabs at the hem of Zayn's shirt, pulling on it and skimming his hand over the surface of Zayn's skin exposed between his shirt and the top of his pants. Zayn groans into Liam's mouth, wanting his shirt off, wanting Liam to touch him more and never stop.

Unfortunately, he can't have that because after some time they hear a cough. Zayn had almost forgotten where they were, and that there were people watching them on security. Liam must have as well considering his face is burning the brightest red that Zayn has ever seen on anyone.

"We wouldn't have interrupted you," the guard says, smirking, "but we were afraid that if we didn't you two would've started to fuck right here."           

Now Zayn's the one blushing as Liam grabs his hand and they both stand up. "Shut it, Andy," Liam mutters, pushing past the still smirking guard.

They hurry out of the building and back to their building as quickly as possible. Zayn can't help but feel like they've hit _every single fucking_ red light on their ride back home, and Liam's hand on his thigh that's slowly approaching his crotch definitely isn't helping.

Zayn silently thanks Louis and Harry as he and Liam slip through his door. They don't even make it to Zayn's room before they start kissing again, falling onto the couch. Liam pushes Zayn down onto his back, his head against the armrest, and straddles his hips.

"Louis says that he'd kick me out if we had sex on the couch," Zayn manages to gasp between kisses.

"Louis doesn't have to know where we had sex, now does he?" Liam says, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh he'll know," Zayn insists. "It's like he has a sixth sense when it comes to sex."

Liam laughs and leans down to kiss Zayn again, long and hard. "So you wanna go to your bedroom?" he asks against his lips.

Zayn thinks about it and right now it seems _so far away_. "Here's fine," he replies, tugging Liam back in.

Zayn slides his hands underneath Liam's shirt and pushes it up. Liam breaks the kiss for a split second as he pulls his shirt off. Zayn runs his fingertips over Liam's abs, thinking that he's glad Liam decided to get into running for whatever reason.

Liam moves down Zayn's body, biting and sucking marks onto his neck, and then pushing Zayn's shirt up so he can kiss down his chest. Zayn sits up so he can help Liam pull his shirt off all the way and then he falls back against the armrest as Liam resumes kissing down, further and further, until--

Liam sits back up and bites his lip, looking hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Zayn asks.

"I've never, um, really gotten this far with anybody," Liam admits. "Well, except Nikki's mum, but she didn't have a, you know--"

"A dick," Zayn finishes, and Liam flushes.

"Yeah," Liam says. "I mean, I know the basics, but I've never actually done anything."

Zayn nods, sits up all the way, and kisses Liam softly and slowly. "I don't care, Liam. I just want to do whatever you're comfortable with."

"Sleep with me?" Liam asks.

"Sure," Zayn answers, pulling Liam up with him. When they get to his room they fall right into his bed, Zayn's arm around Liam's middle, and Liam curling up close to him. And Zayn honestly couldn't ask for a more perfect night.

***

"We should go on a double date," Louis states the next day.

Zayn rolls his eyes. He remembers when he first became really good friends with Louis and he was constantly talking about how one day, when they were no longer lonely and pathetic losers, they'd go on a double date together.

"I was kind of hoping you weren't going to remember that," Zayn says.

Louis gives him a serious look. "I remember _everything_ , Zaynie. The sooner you realize that, the better. Now c'mon, are we double dating or not?"

Zayn shrugs. "I don't know, Lou. I mean, Liam and I _just_ got together, and I'm not sure how he'd feel about going on a double date with his best friend and his..." Zayn trails off, not exactly sure what to call him and Liam.

"Boyfriend, Zayn," Louis tells him. "You're his _boyfriend_."

Zayn shakes his head. "Can I really call us that though? I mean, we've only been on two dates and--" He cuts himself off and puts his head in his hands. "Fuck, I have no idea what we're doing."

He feels the couch sink beside him as Louis sits down and starts rubbing his back. "What's up with you? You've never freaked out this much about him before."

Zayn leans back against the couch and sighs. "I don't know. I think it has to do with the fact that he has a daughter--"

"Not this again," Louis groans.

"No, it's not like I don't want to be with him because of her, it's just-- new, I guess? I've never taken care of someone before, I've never had to have that kind of responsibility. I mean, yeah, I've got my little sisters, but I didn't have to raise them or take care of them on my own. So it's new and it's different and I'm afraid that I'm going to fuck it all up and Liam is going to hate me forever."

Louis stares at Zayn for a few seconds in silence after his admission. Finally he says, slowly, "You two have been official for, what, twelve hours? It's too fucking early for you to be having a relationship crisis."

Zayn laughs. "Yeah, well..."

"You know what I think will make you feel better?" Louis asks.

"I swear to god, Lou, if you say--"

"A double date with me and Harry."

"I'm going to murder you in your sleep."

"I'll call Harry and tell them you're looking forward to it."

***

"You didn't have to come, you know," Zayn whispers to Liam the following night as Liam's sliding into the booth next to him, Harry doing the same across the table.

Liam smiles at him and shifts a little closer than necessary. "I thought it'd be fun."

"Nothing with Louis is ever fun," Zayn tells him. Liam laughs, but Zayn is completely serious. In fact, he's kind of terrified of what Louis might do to him and how Liam will think of him after tonight. Don't think he hasn't forgotten about Louis' promise to get him back for cockblocking Louis all those weeks ago.

"So Liam," Louis says after they've gotten their drinks. He leans over the table a little and grins in a way that Zayn can only describe as threatening, "I don't actually know that much about you. Tell me about yourself."

"Okay," Liam says, glancing at Zayn for reassurance. Zayn just nods, because he has no idea what Louis is up to ever. "I'm originally from Wolverhampton--"

"No, that kind of stuff's so _boring_ ," Louis says. "I want to know about something a little more interesting. Oh, I know! Tell me about your sex life."

Zayn shouldn't have been taking a drink at that moment because he ends up almost spitting it all over the table. Harry starts cackling like an idiot while Liam blushes and Louis grins at Liam and Zayn.

"Oh, I-- um," Liam stammers. "That, er, seems kind of personal."

"Of course it is," Louis agrees wholeheartedly, surprising Zayn. "How rude of me to ask that of someone I barely even know. Why don't I tell you all about someone I _do_ know instead."

" _Louis_ ," Zayn warns, because he does _not_ like where this is going.

"Liam, how would you like to know about Zayn's sex life?" Louis asks bluntly.

Now Liam spits his drink all over the table, but it mostly gets on Harry since he's sitting right across from him. That doesn't stop Harry from joining in on Louis' laughter though as Zayn helps Liam gather up napkins to clean up the mess. The two idiots are still laughing when the waitress comes to take their order.

"Are you ready to order?" she asks with a slightly confused smile.

"Yes we are," Zayn says, glaring at Louis and Harry who are trying to contain their laughter. He doesn't know why they're laughing so hard; it's not like it was _that_ funny. "Can I have the chicken parmesan, please?"

The waitress nods and scribbles down his order, but Louis grins at her mischievously.

"May I ask what gender the chicken is?" Louis asks sweetly. "Because I know Zayn prefers cocks."

Harry bursts out into laughter again while Liam flushes an even deeper red (if that's possible) and Zayn wants to sink into the floor and never come back up.

"I can go check, if you want," the waitress says, nonplussed.

"Just ignore him, he's an idiot," Zayn tells her.

"Um, okay," she says, and then turns to Liam. "What can I get for you sir?"

"I'll have the three cheese chicken penne," Liam says.

"And make sure his chicken is male," Harry says. "Liam _really_ enjoys a good cock every now and then."

Now it's Louis' turn to burst into outrageous laughter.

"Can you bring me the biggest and sharpest knife you can find in the kitchen?" Zayn asks the waitress, whose confusion has turned into annoyance.

"With pleasure," she says, rolling her eyes at Louis and Harry. "Are two ready, or should I come back when you've grown up a little?"

Louis calms down and says, "Both of us will share the meatloaf."

"And make sure it's extra meaty," Harry adds.

"We like our meat," Louis agrees.

The waitress rolls her eyes again and writes it down before taking their menus. "Will that be all?"

"Actually," Louis says, and everyone but Harry groans, "can we get some rolls for the table?"

The waitress blinks at him, surprised that he actually made a serious request. "Um okay," she says, writing it down.

"Thanks, love," he says, smiling. "But, if I may ask, how hard are the rolls? I don't particularly like extremely hard rolls, but I don't like them to be too soft, you know?"

"I'll be back with your food," the waitress deadpans, leaving them behind just as Louis and Harry burst out into laughter again.

"Ha ha, very funny," Zayn says sarcastically. "How old are you two, like twelve?"

"Are you embarrassed?" Louis asks.

"I'm not embarrassed, I'm annoyed," Zayn says.

"Liam looks pretty embarrassed," Harry points out. Zayn looks over at Liam whose face is completely red, and he's hunched down in his seat as if he wants to hide away from the world forever. Zayn doesn't even think when he shifts a little closer to Liam and wraps a protective arm around his shoulder. Liam smiles up at him and leans into the touch.

"I think that's good enough, then," Louis says.

"What's good enough?" Liam asks, sitting up a little.

"Oh, Zayn cockblocked Louis a while ago and he was getting him back by embarrassing him in public," Harry explains.

"Wait, you knew about that?" Zayn asks.

"Of course he knew about it," Louis says. "Haz and I have a very open relationship."

Zayn knows that Louis probably didn't mean it as an insult to his and Liam's relationship, but it still stings a bit. And judging from the hurt look on Liam's face, he feels the same way.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Louis says softly once he's realized what he said.

"Yeah, I know," Zayn says. "Can we just talk about something else?"

***

Zayn ends up going home with Liam. Well, technically. They all go home together but Louis and Harry go straight for Zayn and Louis' flat, and Liam, being the polite gentleman he is, offered to let Zayn stay at his flat.

"It's kind of a mess," Liam apologizes as they enter. Liam picks up a few stray toys as they walk through the living room to the kitchen. "Niall's not home, he's on a date with a girl he met in... European history, I think?"

Zayn laughs as he follows Liam into the kitchen. "You don't even know how he met this girl?"

"Can I be honest with you?" Liam says, lowering his voice as if Niall is going to come in at any second. "I don't even know what he's studying. I try to listen when he's talking, but most days I'm so tired that I can barely stay awake during a conversation with him."

That's odd, Zayn thinks. He doesn't think that Liam ever looks or acts that tired. But now that Liam's said it, Zayn can see the dark circles under his eyes and he does yawn _a lot_. He feels bad for Liam, he really does. He has to work nights and must not get a lot of sleep during the day because he has to take care of Nikki. He wants to help Liam, but he's not sure how.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Liam asks, breaking him out of his reverie. "I don't keep alcohol in here, but I have tea, milk, and like a shit ton of juice boxes."

"I'm okay," Zayn says.

"Are you sure?"

Zayn nods.

"Okay," Liam says, pacing around the kitchen, not quite sure what to do. "I'm going to go check on Nikki."

"I can do it," Zayn says. Liam is probably exhausted, and he should get as much rest and time to relax as possible on his night off.

"No, Zayn--" Liam starts, but Zayn cuts him off.

"It's fine, Liam," Zayn says, placing his hands on Liam's shoulders. "You should relax. Go to bed, I'll take care of Nikki."

"Okay," Liam agrees, relaxing into Zayn's touch. "But, just make sure that her crib is locked, I don't want her falling out in the middle of the night. And will you change her diaper? I don't want her going to bed without a fresh one. Oh, and--"

"I've got it, Liam," Zayn assures him. "I had two little sisters to take care of, I know what I'm doing."

"Are you sure?"

Zayn nods and presses a gentle kiss against Liam's cheek. "Just go to bed, Liam."

Zayn follows Liam into his room, where Liam promptly falls into bed, apparently too tired to change out of his dress shirt and pants. Zayn chuckles softly as he heads over to the crib and takes Nikki out.

"Diapers are in the bathroom," Liam mumbles from the bed. Zayn nods and takes Nikki into the bathroom where he changes her diaper. He then goes back into Liam's room and places her in her crib and makes sure it's locked after tucking her in. When he looks over at Liam he's fast asleep on top of the covers. Zayn grabs a quilt from the end of the bed and pulls it on top of him.

He's just switching off the lights as he's leaving the room (he doesn't want to go back home and have to listen to Harry and Louis all night, but he's not sure how Liam would feel about him crashing on his couch) when he hears a soft, "Zayn."

Zayn turns around. "Yeah Liam?" he whispers back.

"Will you stay?" Liam asks. He sounds unsure of himself, almost as if he doesn't really want to ask because he's afraid that Zayn will say no.

"Okay," Zayn says and makes his way over to the bed. He lies down, a safe distance away from Liam, which is quickly covered by Liam snuggling up close to him. Liam rests his head on Zayn's chest and places an arm on his stomach. Zayn wraps his arm around Liam and pulls him in as close as possible.

They're quiet for some time. Liam's breathing starts to even out, but before he's asleep he whispers, "Her name was Danielle."

Zayn looks down at Liam and in the dark he can kind of see Liam looking back up at him. "Who?" Zayn asks, even though he knows who Liam is talking about.

"Nikki's mother," Liam answers. "I thought I was going to marry her. We dated for almost three years, but I guess she never really wanted to commit to me because as soon as the baby was born, she ran." Liam's voice sounds thick, and Zayn thinks he might be crying. "She didn't want to have the baby, but everyone forced her to have it. I promised her I'd help her take care of it, but she said that she didn't want it no matter what. I knew that she was going to leave, but I begged her to stay, tried to convince her that Nikki needed her mother, but she still left. She left me all alone with a kid and no money. And honestly, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."

Zayn leans down and kisses the top of Liam's head. "It's okay. I don't even know what I'm doing with my life. But I know one thing: I'm going to stay. I'm going to stay for as long as you want me and I'm going to help you take care of Nikki. If that's what you want."

Liam slides up so he's at eye level with Zayn and kisses him. It's short, but passionate and full of words that Liam doesn't know how to say. "Only if that's what you want."

Zayn answers by kissing Liam again. He knows that it's a lot to promise, especially so early in their relationship. But he doesn't think he's ever been so sure of anything in his life.

***

He gets the call two days before the fashion show that their collection is going to be touring Europe for six months. Zayn is ecstatic-- at first. After the initial excitement wore off he realizes what he'd be giving up if he went on this tour.

First off, he wouldn't have as much time to spend with Louis. Not like he's had a lot of time to spend with him lately, what with his relationship with Harry and all. But Zayn doesn't know how he feels about spending six months, in foreign places, without his best friend. He knows that Louis' much happier with his new job, but Zayn still wishes that he had stayed with Richards.

Then there's Liam. He knows how many people in his life have left him, and he doesn't want to be one of those people. Since the night Liam told him about Nikki's mother Zayn's learned a little more about his life, like the fact that his parents cut off all ties when they found out that Liam knocked a girl up, and that's why he couldn't afford to continue attending uni. Liam has been left behind so many times before, and Zayn just can't do that to him.

But he knows that he has no choice. It's either go on the tour or end his contract with Richards, and he could get into some serious trouble if he did that at this point.

So he decides not to tell Liam. At least, not until he figures out the best way to tell Liam without him getting upset.

He still hasn't told by the night of the show, and he knows he's running out of time and he needs to tell Liam soon. He invited the four of them, Liam, Niall, Harry, and even Louis. But Louis didn't come because he thought that it would be inappropriate. For once he could actually tell the difference between right and wrong.

Zayn's having some last minute alterations done on his outfit when Liam surprises him backstage.

"Liam," Zayn says, the knot of nerves in his stomach loosening a bit at just the sight of him. "What the hell are you doing back here?"

Liam smiles and presses a quick kiss to his cheek. "I called Louis and he told security to let me back here. He said that you get really nervous before shows and I thought I might be able to calm you down."

"Turn to your right," the tailor working on Zayn's outfit orders. Zayn turns and Liam goes with him.

"I'm glad you're here," Zayn admits. He takes a deep breath and thinks, _It's now or never. I have to tell Liam about the European tour_. "Listen, Liam, there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay," Liam says.

"The show is starting in two minutes!" someone announces suddenly. "Everyone needs to take their places _now_!"

"I should go," Liam says, backing away from Zayn reluctantly as models and stylists run around them.

"No, I really have to--" Zayn starts, but someone is ushering him towards the runway.

"Can it wait?" Liam asks. "You really do need to get ready."

Zayn sighs. He supposes that it can wait. "Alright, I'll tell you right after."

"Okay," Liam says. Without a second thought Zayn pulls him into a kiss, even though he knows that it's ruining his make-up. Liam smiles and whispers, "Good luck, babe," against his lips before walking away.

The show goes without a hitch. Zayn still thinks he could've done better though, even though everyone assures him that he was great. They're onstage while everyone gives them a big round of applause, and Zayn spots Liam with Harry and Niall in the front row, grinning widely at him while Niall's asleep and Harry looks like he's about to fall asleep. Zayn tries to suppress a smile for the three of them, but he can't help it.

Zayn and the other models are about to leave when Will Richards clears his throat. "I have an announcement before everyone leaves," he says loudly.

_No, please don't let this be what I think it is_ , Zayn thinks, biting his lip and glancing at Liam nervously.

"This collection has been chosen to be a part of a tour around Europe," Richards announces.

_Shit._

"So," he continues, "me and all of these fabulous models will be leaving in about a week for six months to be a part of this. So not only will you be able to find these clothes in London, but also all over Europe. Now, give one last round of applause for our lovely models this evening."

Everyone claps for them as they exit the runway, but all Zayn can think about is that he has to find Liam. He doesn't even care that he's still wearing the designer suit for the show as he runs out into the crowd leaving the room. He spots Harry's curly hair and Niall's blonde hair and makes a beeline for them.

"Where's Liam?" Zayn asks them.

"He left right away," Harry says. "I think he was upset about the announcement."

"I know," Zayn groans. "I meant to tell him before the show, but I didn't have enough time. I have to go now."

"You should probably change first," Harry says. "I'll try and calm Liam down and make sure he doesn't do anything crazy before you explain yourself to him. Niall will help, right Ni?"

Niall shrugs and refuses to look at either of them. Zayn gets it. If someone had done something like this to Louis he'd probably be pissed at them too.

"We'll see later, Zayn," Harry says before the two of them file out the door.

Zayn changes and removes his make-up as fast as possible and practically sprints out the door. When he gets to his flat building he runs straight upstairs and knocks on Liam's door.

"Liam, please open up," Zayn pleads. "I can explain, just please open the door--"

The door opens, revealing Liam with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Fine, explain why you didn't think that it was important to tell me that you're leaving _for six fucking months_!"

Zayn sighs. "Can I come in?"

"No."

"Fair enough," Zayn relents. "Look, I was going to tell you, I just couldn't figure out the right time to tell you or the right way. I was going to tell you before the show, but I didn't have enough time."

"How about telling me when you found out?" Liam demands. "Or talking it over with me to see how I'd feel about it?"

"First of all, I didn't have a choice," Zayn says, losing all calm and starting to get almost as angry as Liam. "If I didn't go then I would've had to end my contract, and that's next to impossible at this point. So even if I had had time to discuss it with you, then you wouldn't have had a say in the matter. Second, we've been dating for, what? About a week, right? So why should I have to talk about it with you? It's my life, it's my career, so I get to make the decisions."

"Do you remember what you told me?" Liam says, his voice lower now and his eyes brimming with tears. "You told me that you weren't going to leave me, that you were going to stay. But you lied. I trusted you not to run away and that's exactly what you're doing!"

"I don't have a choice, Liam!" Zayn repeats. "There's nothing I can do about it. We can still be together, and it's only six months. Don't you want to keep trying?"

"I'm tired Zayn," Liam says. "I'm tired of everyone leaving me and I'm tired of trying when I know that in the end they're just going to leave."

"But Liam--"

"Goodbye Zayn, have a nice trip," Liam says, shutting the door.

***

**Six Months Later**

 

Louis comes to pick him up from the airport. Zayn is exhausted from the flight and he can't wait to finally sleep in his own bed for the first time in six months.

"Zaynie!" Louis shouts when he spots him. He charges straight towards Zayn and envelops him in a giant bear hug. "I missed you. You didn't talk to me enough while you were away, you twat."

Zayn laughs. Of course one of the first things out of Louis' mouth when they saw each other again would be an insult. "I texted you everyday, Lou. And I sent you a postcard from every city I went to."

Louis pulls away from the hug and they start for the luggage carousel together. "That's not enough, though. Especially when I didn't get to see you for half a year."

"I'm sorry, Lou," Zayn says. "I promise I'll spend every moment of the next three weeks with you, happy?"

Louis gives him a questioning look. "Are you saying that because you love me or because you're a lazy fucker who doesn't want to do anything for three weeks?"

"The second one," Zayn admits. "I'm so tired and I never want to model ever _again_."

"I never thought I'd actually hear you say that," Louis says, surprised. He shakes his head. "Wow, the world really is coming to an end."

Zayn eyes him curiously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Louis opens his mouth to tell Zayn something, but then he closes it and shakes his head. "I'll tell you later. Let's just get your luggage and go."

Louis fills him in on what's going on in their friends' lives on their way home. While Zayn was away he only really kept in touch with Louis. He doesn't really know Harry all that well, Niall's still kind of pissed at him, and Liam's, well... He doesn't think that he's ever going to have a chance to speak to Liam again.

He wishes he did though. Because the thing is, Zayn thought that his feelings for Liam would go away while he was touring Europe, but they didn't. If anything, they actually got stronger. He doesn't know what's wrong with him. He thought that the distance and the time away from Liam would have healed his broken heart and made him move on, but it didn't. All he could think about while he was away was about Liam, and what he can do to make things better between them, and if Liam was thinking those same things. And now that he's back, his mind is going into overdrive thinking about ways to apologize to Liam and make things right again.

Louis ruins it all when he says, "Don't freak out, Zayn, but Liam's in the hospital."

Zayn stares at Louis in disbelief, shocked into silence. Liam can't be in the hospital, it's just not possible. Zayn would know, Louis would have told him--

"He was in an accident," Louis explains quickly before Zayn's imagination can run wild on the possibilities about what could have happened to him. "He was in a cab, going to work, and someone ran a red light and crashed straight into Liam's side of the car."

Zayn feels like he can't breathe. It's like his whole world has stopped and he can't think about anything except, _Liam_ , and _is he okay?_ and _I'm going to kill whoever that other driver was_.

"He has a broken leg, and two broken ribs, but other than that he's totally fine," Louis continues. "Lucky for him, the car was slowing down when it hit him otherwise he would've been in much worse shape. In fact, he probably would've--" Louis stops himself, but Zayn knows what he was going to say.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Zayn asks, hating how his voice shakes.

"It happened less than a week ago," Louis tells him. "And you were coming home so soon, I thought I should wait so I could tell you in person. Are you-- are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm-- I'll be fine," he says, taking a couple deep breaths. "Can I see him?"

Louis bites his lip. "I don't know. Niall still kind of hates you for just leaving Liam without telling him. And he's like guard dog, sitting right beside Liam from the beginning of visiting hours to the end. He almost wouldn't let _me_ see Liam, but he eventually let me when Liam said that it was okay. But you... I'm not so sure about."

Zayn nods. "Can you please just ask him? I have to see him, Lou, _please_."

"Okay, Zaynie, I'll ask him," Louis promises. "Now it's your turn. Tell me all about your fabulous trip around Europe."

***

Niall doesn't let Zayn see Liam. He stands outside Liam's hospital room three days after his arrival in London, letting Niall yell at him for being a "pathetic asshole who thinks that it's okay to lead people on and then leave them". Zayn totally resents that, but he can understand where Niall is coming from.

Niall is still shouting at Zayn when a familiar woman with short blonde hair walks up to them.

"Niall," Ruth says, "shut the fuck up."

Niall abruptly stops talking and blinks at her. "But Ruth--"

Ruth steps closer to him. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You don't know Zayn's reasons for leaving Liam and you don't know his reasons for wanting to see him. And how do you even know that Liam doesn't want to see Zayn?"

"Because he told me--"

"He told me too, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to see him," Ruth says. "I can tell that he doesn't really mean it when he says that he never wants to talk or hear about him ever again. Just give Zayn this one chance to redeem himself to Liam, and if you still think he's an asshole, then treat him like an asshole. But at least give him a chance."

Niall stares at her for a moment before sighing and moving away from the door to let Zayn through. "You have five minutes," he says.

"Niall," Ruth warns.

"Fine, ten, but that's all I'm giving you," Niall says.

Zayn nods and steps through the door. Liam is sitting up in bed, reading a book. Actually, he's reading a book that Zayn leant to him a little over a year ago. Zayn smiles to himself as he sits in the chair beside Liam's bed. Liam looks up, probably expecting to see Niall, and drops his book in surprise when he sees that it's not.

"Surprise," Zayn says, smiling a little.

Liam's face goes from shocked to angry in just a second. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Visiting you?" Zayn says. "I mean, that is the purpose of visiting hours, isn't it?"

Liam narrows his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Zayn sighs. "I want to apologize to you. Liam, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I'm sorry for making you think that I didn't care about what you thought, because I do. You have no idea how much I care about you, Liam. When Louis told me what happened to you it killed me. It killed me to think about how you had gotten hurt and I wasn't there for you."

"Is that it then?" Liam says, his voice shaking slightly. "Is that why you came to apologize? Because you felt _bad_ for me?"

"No, Liam, that's not it at all," Zayn immediately denies. "The entire time I was gone I was thinking about you, and how I could fix things--"

"Zayn," Liam says, cutting him off, "I spent the last six months trying to _forget_ about you. Trying to forget how amazing you are and the promises you made and broke. I tried to convince myself that you're some awful jerk that doesn't care about anyone but himself. And now you're sitting here, in front of me, apologizing and talking about how much you care about me, and I'm still trying to tell myself that you're an asshole. But I'm not sure if you are. Although I have one question for you: why did you wait?"

"What do you mean?" Zayn asks.

"Why did you wait so long to apologize?" Liam elaborates. "Why didn't you do it sooner?"

"I had to tell you in person," Zayn says, but even to him it sounds like a lame excuse. "It just... it wouldn't have been right to do it over the phone or Skype, you know?"

Liam nods, but he doesn't accept it. He looks down at his lap and starts picking at the sheets. "I think you should leave."

"Liam--"

"Please, Zayn," Liam says, his voice think. "Just go. And let me forget about you and everything we had. You said it yourself before you left, it's not like we were even together that long right? None of this really matters."

Zayn wants to argue, tell him that every moment, from the very beginning when they first met matters. But he knows that it's useless, that Liam isn't going to listen to him. Liam's made up his mind about Zayn and he's not going to change it, and maybe, Zayn thinks, that's for the best.

"Goodbye Liam," Zayn says, standing up. Liam doesn't look at him as he walks out the door.

***

Zayn is heading out for a smoke later that evening when Niall finds him. Zayn's surprised when Niall stops him in the middle of the hallway, considering how Niall's death glare burned a hole into his back on the way out of the hospital.

"What do you want Niall?" Zayn says exasperatedly after Niall's gotten his attention. He's really not looking forward to getting yelled at again.

"I need you to babysit for a couple of hours," Niall says.

Zayn's genuinely surprised. He can't believe that Niall would ask _him_ , of all people, to babysit Nikki. "Why?" Zayn blurts.

"Because Louis and Harry are both busy being sickeningly in love with each other, and everyone else I know is busy as well," Niall explains. "That, and I'm too lazy to go and find a babysitter. Please, Zayn? I'll pay you for it."

Zayn shakes his head. "I'll watch her, but you don't have to pay me. Actually, don't pay me, okay?"

Niall raises an eyebrow but agrees anyway. "If that's what you want. I get off at ten, so I'll see you then."

Niall heads out the door as Zayn goes upstairs. He can't believe that just a few hours earlier he and Liam basically decided to never see or speak to each other ever again, and yet here he is, babysitting his daughter.

Taking care of Nikki isn't that much work, Zayn learns. She's very well-behaved and she barely cries except for when she needs to be changed or fed. He finds her bottle in the fridge easily enough and rocks her while he feeds her on Liam's bed.

"I remember when I first met your dad," Zayn finds himself saying to her. "He and Niall were trying to move all their furniture into their new flat, and failing miserably. I said to my mate, Louis, that we should help them. But Louis' a lazy arsehole so I ended up going out there and helping them myself. Right away, I decided that Niall is possibly the funniest and most carefree person I'd ever met, and I really liked to be around him. Your dad, though, as soon as I saw him I knew I was fucked." Zayn's eyes widen. "Don't tell him I said that.

"Anyway, not only was he the single most attractive person I'd ever met but he was also sweet and kind, and just an all-around good person. And the more I got to know him the more I liked him. I found out that we both had a lot in common and that I started to prefer being around him than my own best friend.

"I remember hanging out with Liam and Niall at my flat one day and I went out for a smoke. Liam came out with me and he said that his whole life he'd been told that smoking will kill you, but his grandma smoked pretty much her whole life and she's still alive and well at age 93, so he didn't care if I smoked as long as it meant that I could live that long too. And then later that night he fell asleep on the couch while we were watching a horror movie, of all things. I think that's the moment I realized I was in love with him.

"Our relationship basically went downhill after that. I mean, yes, Liam asked me out on a date, and we had an amazing time. But then I found out about you and I freaked out. I didn't know what to do. But I got back on good terms with Liam with a little help from my friends, and that's when we officially got together.

"We weren't together that long when I fu-- messed everything up. It was all because I was an idiot and was too scared to tell Liam something that he deserved to know. And then, I don't know why, but I didn't apologize to him before I left. And the entire time I was in Europe I was thinking, what would've happened if we had never fought? What if I had just told Liam right away? Would we still be together right now? Or were we just never meant to be together in the first place?

"To be honest, I don't why I'm telling you all of this. None of this really means anything to you and it's not like you can say anything to make this all better. But-- I really needed to tell someone, you know? I wanted to tell Liam how much he means to me, how much I wish he was a part of my life, but he won't listen to me. And I can't tell Louis because he'd just laugh in my face."

Zayn looks down at Nikki and notices that she's fast asleep. He stands up and puts her in her crib before heading out of Liam's room. Niall's sitting on the living room couch when he leaves, playing on his phone.

"I'll see you later, Niall," Zayn calls as he opens the door to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want to be paid?" Niall asks.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Zayn says, closing the door behind him.

***

It's almost a month after that night, and Zayn is sitting in a bar with Louis and Harry. Niall's been acting much better towards him in that time, and, at this rate, Zayn's sure they'll be back to being good friends again soon. But his relationship with Liam is still strained, and he doesn't think that it'll ever get better. He passes him in the hallway sometimes, but Zayn makes a hasty retreat every time they do.

Louis' offered to find someone to help Zayn get over Liam, but Zayn refuses every single time. He doesn't think that dating someone new will help, because he'll spend the entire time comparing them to Liam. But that doesn't stop Louis from trying, which is why they're out in the bar right now.

There's a guy that he's talking to at the moment, but Zayn doesn't think he'll stick around him long. He was first drawn to the guy because of his brown eyes (which he refuses to admit remind him of Liam's), but now that he's gotten to know him he finds that the guy is a little boring.

He's rambling on about accounting, a subject Zayn knows literally nothing about and would never like to know anything about, when a familiar song comes over the loudspeaker. It's so familiar that it makes Zayn's chest hurt, and he has to leave.

"Who the fuck thought it was okay to put on Taylor Swift?" Zayn can hear Louis yell over a collection of groans. Zayn follows the sound of his voice and finds him in the middle of the crowd with Harry.

"They're playing _Fearless_ ," Zayn states.

"I honestly don't care what it's called, Zayn," Louis says. "It's Taylor Swift and it's shit."

"It's also kind of mine and Liam's song," Zayn says, barely loud enough for Louis to hear. "We danced to it on our first date."

"Fuck," Louis says, then glances over at Harry who looks like he's having the time of his life. "Do you want to go? I'll get Haz and we'll leave, if you want."

Zayn shakes his head. "No, it's okay. I don't want to make you leave if you're having a good time. I think I'm going to though."

"Okay," Louis says, nodding and totally understanding where Zayn is coming from. "I'll give you cab fare--"

"That's okay, Lou," Zayn insists. "I'll take care of it. I'll see you back at home."

"Bye Zayn," Louis calls after him and he pushes his way through the crowd. He stands outside, huddled up in his jacket as he calls a cab.

"Zayn!" he hears an all too familiar voice call. He looks around, looking for the source of it, knowing that it's probably just his imagination running wild. But then he sees him, running straight towards him.

"Liam?" Zayn says. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"When I first met you," Liam says instead of answering Zayn, "I thought you were perfect. I don't even care how ridiculous that sounds, because it's true. I tried looking for a flaw, tried to find one thing that I hated about you, but I couldn't. And I'm still doing that now. You can't be real, someone as perfect and amazing as you are can't really exist, but you do. That's why I was so determined to hate you and stay mad at you. Because I wanted to believe that you're an asshole, but you're _not_ , Zayn. You're wonderful and lovely, and fuck, I love you."

Zayn can't breathe. He doesn't know where this is coming from or why Liam is telling him this now, after all this time.

As if he can read his mind, Liam continues, "Louis told me that every time he talked to you on the phone while you were in Europe you sounded unhappy. Like, he said that you sounded like you were having a good time, but you weren't _happy_. And you always asked about me. And-- I just didn't know how to feel about that. I was so busy trying to convince myself that I hated you that I didn't realize how much I loved you. And I don't think I actually did realize until Niall showed me that video."

"What video?" Zayn asks, confused.

"The one Niall took of you telling Nikki about how much you love me," Liam says, slowly realizing that Zayn had no idea that Niall saw that, much less took a video of it. "Which you didn't know about. Shit, Zayn--"

Zayn kisses him. He doesn't care that they're standing in the middle of the sidewalk while passersby give them odd looks, he couldn't help it. He's wondered for almost seven months now if he would ever get another chance to kiss and touch Liam like this, and now he is. And he never wants to stop.

But eventually they do. And when they do Zayn rests his forehead against Liam's and says, "Do you know why I'm out here?"

"I was actually wondering what you were doing, waiting to go home so early," Liam says.

Zayn laughs and kisses his nose. " _Fearless_ came on, and it reminded me of you. And it didn't feel right to listen to it without you."

Liam laughs. "I'm so glad a Taylor Swift song reminds you of me." He kisses Zayn, slower this time. "Do you know why I came down here?"

Zayn shakes his head.

"Because I heard _Fearless_ on the radio," Liam admits.

Zayn laughs and goes to kiss Liam again when they're cut off by someone honking. He looks away from Liam and sees a cab waiting for him.

"I suppose I have to go home now," Zayn says regretfully.

Liam presses a kiss to his cheek. "Can I go with you?"

Zayn nods and grabs his hand, tugging him towards the cab. "And you can stay. For as long as you want."

***

**Epilogue**

 

Nikki's crying for the second time that night. Zayn and Liam groan but don't get up. Zayn's far too comfortable with Liam's arm wrapped around his middle, the front of his body pressed up against Zayn's back. The last thing he wants right now is to get up and calm down Nikki.

" _Liam_ ," he moans, "Nikki's crying again."

" _Zayn_ ," Liam moans back, "I had to get up and take care of her last time."

"But she's _your_ daughter, not mine," Zayn retorts.

"When are you going to stop using that against me?" Liam mutters against Zayn's neck.

"When she stops being biologically related to you," Zayn replies.

" _Zayn_ ," Liam groans, drawing out the "a". "Just please make her stop crying."

"Fine," Zayn says, getting out of bed begrudgingly. "I hate you so much."

He can faintly see Liam grin in the darkness. "I love you too."

Zayn is tired. Exhausted actually. But he's oddly okay with it. He's got friends and someone who loves him. And really, what more could he ask for?

 

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, that took way too long to write. I hope you liked it though!


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